Reprecussions
by LoganAlpha30
Summary: AU after Buffy gets the scythe and saves Faith and the potentials after the explosion, A. I. group in here to. Ch 32 and Epilogue Up! FINISHED!
1. Default Chapter

**REPRECUSSIONS **

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.**

**Author's Note:  This takes place right after Buffy saves Kennedy, Faith, and the other potentials with the scythe, however in this Molly didn't die in that fight in the vineyard but instead is in the hospital and Angel and his gang will show up in Sunnydale, although the reunion won't necessarily be a happy one.**

**CHAPTER 1-THE FIRST RIPPLES**

"So that's what Caleb was trying to keep from you eh...," Spike asked with a look of reverence on his face as he stared at the scythe in Buffy's hands.  Although it was only a weapon it seemed to be alive, humming softly to itself.  Buffy appeared not to be able to hear it but Spike could, but only if he listened carefully.

"Yeah…," Buffy replied with a tired yawn as she sat down beside Spike, directly in the line of fire for the warm rays of sun that filtered in through the window.  After saving Faith and the potential slayers that had followed her down into the tunnels only to be ambushed by first a bomb and then the ubervamps Buffy had quickly returned to the house that she and Spike had spent the night together in.  She knew that someone had been there as when she left the front door had been shut and it she had found it standing wide open.  At first she thought Spike had left, but then as per the norm he had appeared behind her, almost as if from thin air, with a relieved smile on her face.  The two had made their way back to the bedroom before trying to decompress and take stock of what had happened since they saw each other last.

"Red and the others wankers were here earlier looking for you, I hid in the attic until they left," Spike added with what he hoped was little or no emotion to the tone of his voice as he tried to hide his feelings.

"They're probably just worried about me Spike, Giles probably sent them," Buffy said with a somber tone of voice as she let her head drop a bit before leaning into Spike, glad that she had someone to confide in.

"They didn't appear to worried when Andrew and I came back last night…scheming behind your back to take what's rightfully yours…this is all their fault you know…yeah…they put all of this pressure on you, ole Rupert probably even said that they'd all like to help but in the end it's all up to you, but then when things get rough they…," Spike growled softly at first before his emotions got the better of him and the level of anger in his voice began to steadily rise.

"They thought that they were doing the right thing…for everyone, maybe they were right," Buffy interjected with a sad and self pitying frown on her face as she laid her head on Spike's shoulder and breathed deeply the scent of leather and tobacco.

"I thought that we cleared all of that up last night pet…they were wrong and you proved it," Spike shot back with a tepid scowl on his face as he turned his head down to look at Buffy.

"Maybe…but what are we supposed to do now, I don't feel like going back…they probably gave Faith my room and Dawn's room is already all booked up," Buffy mumbled back sadly as she tilted her head and soon locked gazes with Spike.

"So then we don't go back…ever, they wanted you gone Buffy…so you went," Spike whispered back in an almost harsh whisper before Buffy frowned up at him.

"Great plan Spike, but tell me something, if we don't go back where are we supposed to go," Buffy asked with a sarcastic smile on her face, never thinking that Spike was being deathly serious about leaving.

"Who cares…hey how about this, I'll sneak back into your house tonight and get some clothes and by morning Sunnyhell will only be a bad memory, they want to fight the First their way…then I say let them, there's plenty for us to do elsewhere," Spike declared with a devilish smile on his face and a lustful look in his eyes that Buffy found hard to resist.  While he had been gone that summer she had found it easy to hate him.  What he had tried to do to her was unforgivable, but no matter how hard she tried to keep her hatred for him alive it always fell apart when her memory fell upon the way she had treated him.  That day that she had found him in the school basement, almost completely out of his mind being barely able to recognize her, all of the feelings that she had been keeping bottle up inside of her burst out with unrelenting force.  She had never let anyone know but after she had saved Dawn and got back home she had locked herself in her room, burrowed under the covers, and cried herself to sleep. After several weeks of knowing that he was back she had told herself that she had all of her emotions under control, but like everything else in her life she was proven wrong.  The night that he had shown up in the living room doorway offering to help had changed everything. She had sensed that there was something different about him from the moment that he had shown up, but for most of the night she hadn't been able to put her finger on it.  Anya had seen it at the Bronze, causing Spike to wig out and try to force her to stay quiet.

When she had found him at the old church she had been ready for anything, even ready to dust the one person that had helped her feel again after being rudely ripped out of heaven.  When he had finally gotten around to filling her in enough for the ultimate secret to be revealed to her she found that all of the anger and hate that she had garnered towards him disappear in an instant.  The space in her soul that it had taken up was soon swallowed up by other emotions, causing her to want to drop the stake that was in her hands and fall to her knees with body wracking sobs.  But instead she had stayed in her place, transfixed like one of the stone angel's in the cemeteries that she patrolled every night.  When he had finished and draped himself over the cross she used what little strength that she thought that she had to get him back to the school basement, trying to keep from puking at the smell of burnt flesh, her eyes overflowing with tears.  Xander and Dawn had been waiting for her at home, giving her odd looks as she staggered through the door, eyes a dark crimson from crying.  But she had only remembered the looks on their faces days later, for when she had passed through the doorway her body was on autopilot as her heart, mind, and soul were running in overdrive in their desperate attempt to take in the new revelation.  

Like before she had locked herself in her room and burrowed under the covers before letting another torrent of tears escape, not caring if anyone heard.  Dawn and Xander had stayed outside of her room for almost an hour, softly beseeching her to tell them what had happened.  But she had stayed silent in her own realm of misery at all that had happened.  When she had finally summoned up the courage to tell them about Spike's soul neither had blinked an eye, acting as if the voluntary acquiring of a soul by a vampire, let alone Spike, was normal.  Buffy remembered that she had to ferociously fight back the urge to strangle them both for their apparent apathy to the situation.  The next few weeks had gone along oddly enough until she had discovered that Spike had been feeding again, albeit firmly out of his control and against his will.  That night as they talked, with him chained up to the wall in her basement, she had tried to explain her maze of feelings for him.  But they had been interrupted by the bringers and by the end of the attack he was gone.  

All at once her resolve and strength had evaporated into thin air. Complicated even more by Giles' untimely arrival with news of the council's destruction and three apprentice slayers, with one almost instantly reminding her of what she guessed that Spike had been like as a human.  Soon the more bossy of the three potential slayers was dead and she had barely survived her latest encounter with the ubervamp.  No matter to what lengths she tried to go to placate herself she found herself wanting nothing more than to be wrapped up in Spike's arm, lying her head on his chest and listening as he showered her with one type of reassurance after another.  But he was God only knew where.  

The night that she found him it took all of her resolve to keep from crying out like a terrified child at the sight of him, chained up to the wall looking like a choice cut of meat.  The sparkle in his eyes, that she had loved so much, had been dashed away, replaced by a fear that scared her to the bone to see.  When his first shackle had been cut and he had used her to balance himself the love and thanksgiving that she had seen in his healthy eye had turned her hardened heart into mush.  Had she not had to help him limp out of the cave and somehow get him back to her house she would have made a futile attempt to express her feelings towards him.  In any event the words had not come and the pair had stayed silent until arriving back at her house.

And so he had spent a time chained up to the wall, lying on an old cot, while not helping her train the potential slayers.  When the chip had first started to misfire she had felt as helpless as she had when her mother had developed cancer and later died from it.  For a time it seemed that no matter what she did she couldn't help him.  Her only comfort was that when she was near he seemed to calm down a bit, if only until the chip would misfire again and his screams would chill her to the bone.  When given the choice of whether to remove the chip or simply repair it had come up it had truly been no decision at all, she had used the excuse that in the coming battle she would need him without being handicapped by the chip, however another reason had snuck into the back of her head.  That she had wanted the chip removed so as he had said that she could have a little monster in her man.  Her man, that thought still stumped her as she tried to wade through the sea of feelings that she had for her former mortal enemy turned lover.

She had tried to go out on a what she thought was a normal date with a normal guy.  But all that had changed the second that she had found out who Robin Wood's mother was.  She had been trying to make the best of the situation and was actually beginning to enjoy herself, something that she hadn't done in a long time, when her azure eyed confidant had interrupted her dinner with dire news.  On the way to the school she had stumbled through an explanation of her relationship to Spike, topped off by the questioning look that he had cast her way, one that she had chosen to ignore.  The fight to free Xander had been easy enough, no end of the world threat, but her heart had skipped a full beat when Spike had been knocked to the floor and looked to be about ready to pass out.  After the demon had been beheaded she had rushed to the side of the vampire that had attempted to rape her, with a soft hand on his cheek and worried look in her eye, rather than to the side of one of her oldest and dearest friends.  Robin had taken note of that act but said nothing until much later, the night that he and Giles had conspired to reduce Spike to a pile of dust.

That night she had thought it odd for Giles to drag her out to a cemetery to debate philosophical points while fighting a vampire that was nowhere near her caliber.  Throughout that fight she had been wracking her brain in a desperate attempt to try to figure out what the point of the whole matter was.  As Giles had begun talking about how Angel had been much smarter by leaving rather than cause her any more pain but Spike had been persistent and obstinate, staying even if he wasn't wanted.  But that had been part of how he had screwed up.  Because to Buffy, Spike was wanted, and always had been ever since her nightmares and anger towards him had subsided, finally being clinched by her discovery of his soul and how he had changed as a result of it.  She had felt almost ready to pass out as she pushed herself to get to Wood's house before the unthinkable happened.  Her heart was almost seizing as she saw a bloodied and battered Spike slowly step out of the garage and slip his duster back on.  His answer to her blank stare had made her hold her breath for a few seconds before adding on to Spike's ultimatum to Wood.  Later that night Giles had tried to act guiltless and imply that what he and Wood had tried to do was right and for the best.  She had fully relished the look of utter astonishment on his face when she had shut the door on him.

Had she had time to look back at it she would have admitted that she had been pushing the girls too hard.  But after all they were facing an apocalypse and didn't have time to be petty about it and worry about people's feelings any more than was absolutely necessary.  But to say that she had not been surprised when everyone in the house turned on her, her own literal flesh and blood included, would be the understatement of the decade if not the century.  Even hours, a good battle, and a good restful sleep in the arms of her only friend at the moment later she still couldn't wrap her head around what had transpired.  Two questions kept coming up again and again in her mind, how and why.  How could they do such a thing after everything that she had done for them, not only taking them from being the shadows and stepped upon in the hallways and classrooms to being the almost popular kids in school but dying for them, twice.  Much of her heartache over the years had been indirectly caused, or amplified, by those that she now was no longer certain that she could consider friends.

But true to his word he had been there for her.  When he had appeared in the doorway of the house that she had commandeered she thought that he was perhaps only an illusion of her tortured mind.  Even when he had spoken up she still did not want to believe that it was actually him only to have him rudely taken away as only being in her mind.  But then through his words, and the fact that she had felt his touch, she knew that he was real.  That fact had uncorked all of her feelings of pain, sorrow, frustration, and fear that she had been storing up for quite some time.  She had given him the proverbial mike and asked him to tear her up, something that he had done as only he could.  By the end she could not think of getting through the night without his strong and supportive arms around her.  Her voice had faltered as she made the request but her heart had leapt with joy when he had lain down on the bed beside her and pulled her close.  She had written the note hastily, not even close to being sure of what to say but trying anyway.  

Saving Faith and Kennedy and the others had been her duty as the slayer.  But at the moment when Spike had offered to take her away from all of the troubles of Sunnydale she felt the number of reasons to decline and stay beginning to disappear faster than her trust in her friends.

"You know what…on second thought…let's do it, let's get out of here, they wanted Faith to lead them…fine, Faith's in charge now, after she recovers they can fight the First, I'm done with this town," Buffy said softly and with a nervous frown on her face at first before her tone became more and more filled with resolve and almost total relief as she continued.

"Me to…meet me at my crypt at ten and we'll kiss ole Sunnydale goodbye…," Spike said with an elated grin on his face as the sparkle seemed to have returned to Buffy's eyes.  

*                     *                            *                            *                       *                             *

He squinted at the few stray spires of sunlight that came near him.  He had taken one of the new cars that Wolfram and Hart had given him, complete with the special glass in the windshield and doors allowing him to be able to drive towards his destination in the middle of the day, rather than having to wait until nightfall.  Lilah had given him the amulet and file on the first only a day earlier and he had initially wanted to rush to Sunnydale to see Buffy and lend her his aid.  But Lilah had been persistent about getting everything set up and so he had been forced to wait an agonizing twenty four hours before he had been able to slip out.  He had heard, via some of his informants, that there was something big and bad going down in Sunnydale and as he pressed the accelerator down even further he only hoped that he wasn't to late.

*                           *                    *                                    *                      *                   *

Willow and Xander had been about to go back out in search of Buffy when Kennedy had nearly kicked the front door off of its hinges in an attempt to get help for Faith and the others.  The house had gone into full panic mode, with Xander ushering all of the potentials downstairs to do more training while Giles carried Faith upstairs and laid her in Buffy's bed.  After making sure that Kennedy was alright Willow had rushed to Faith's side to give what aid she could to her new leader.  In the back of her mind she could still hear the mumblings of one of the potentials that had guessed that they were being punished for turning against Buffy.  She silently prayed that was not the case but a gnawing in the pit of her stomach had started to make her think otherwise.  Finally once everyone had gotten settled and the wounded taken care of, an act that took the entire day as Faith and a couple of the wounded potentials needed round the clock aid, Giles had asked Willow to do another locator spell to try to find Buffy.  Willow had started to do the spell as the stars became visible in the night sky.  Giles and Xander had been talking in the living room about what their next move should be when a tearful and frightened Willow slowly walked back into the room.

"Willow…what's wrong," Giles asked with a very worried frown on his face as he quickly rose to his feet and wrapped a steadying arm around the shaking redhead.

"I…I did the spell but…," Willow babbled out softly before a flood of salty tears cut her off.

"But what Will…," Xander asked as he scooted over on the couch so as to let a still shaking Willow sit down beside him.

"They're gone…I did the spell and they're gone…both of them, Spike and Buffy are no longer in Sunnydale…," Willow managed to get out before her tears overtook her and she collapsed into Xander, burying her face into his chest.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE 2:  Wesley and the A.I. gang will show up next chapter as Wesley travels to good old Sunnydale…and wackiness ensues.**

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. A Rude Welcoming

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 2-A RUDE WELCOMING **

He rubbed his tired eyes with one hand while turning the old frail page of the journal with the other.  Ever since Angel had told him about what some of his informants had heard about the happenings in Sunnydale Wesley had been scouring the books that he had become owner of for any reference to the First.  But now as the orange sun was beginning to slip ever so close to the horizon he was getting fed up after finding nary an entry.  Fred had offered to help but he had reassured her that he had everything well in hand and asked if she and Knox didn't have something to work on down in the lab.  Even though he couldn't exactly put his finger on it there was something about Knox that really ate at Wesley.  He tried to play it off as that Knox being evil along with the rest of the employees at Wolfram and Hart.  But a little squeaking voice in the back of his head was saying that it was because he still had feelings for Fred.  

As he tried to scan through another page Wesley had to admit that the little squeaking voice was probably right.  But then again every great once in a while he would still have dreams about Cordelia, ones that he had never told anyone about.  He had chalked them up to the feeling of an opportunity passed up, and hoped that his feelings for Fred were similar to those.  But from his more radical side lately he had been having dreams, well simple dreams these were most definitely not.  These new dreams all contained a mystery woman that for some reason he felt like he knew or should know.  He'd always see her walking along the beach, holding a pair of sandals in one hand while wading through the shallows.  The identity of the woman had, so far anyway, been a secret as in all of the dreams she had been walking away from him.  All he could see of her was a view from behind, and at first that had been enough for him as in the dream the mystery woman was wearing next to nothing.  The only characteristic that gave him any indication as to who the mystery woman could be was a mane of chocolate tresses that stretched down to her waist.  The only other clue that he had was the scent of roses that that he picked up when he stood downwind.

As minutes stretched into hours Wesley tried his best to keep his attention focused entirely on the task at hand, helping Angel make sense of what was happening in Sunnydale.  But it didn't take long before his thoughts turned back to the mystery woman.  He was still thinking about her when Gunn walked in a half an hour later, still dressed in his fanciest suit.

"Wesley…what are you still doing here," Gunn asked with a surprised and somewhat worried smile on his face as he walked into Wesley's office and leaned forward on the back of one of the chairs.

"Helping Angel try to figure out exactly what is currently happening in Sunnydale…you," Wesley replied with a nervous and tired yawn before he leaned back in his chair and looked up at Gunn.

"Just finished setting up my new office…you've really got to come and see it sometime," Gunn answered with a proud and excited smile on his face as he began to loosen his tie.

"I will Gunn, but I can't right now, I'm close to deciphering something that could be vitally important…or an ancient recipe for chicken soup…I'm not quite sure which," Wesley started to say with a very serious frown on his face before he sighed as he finished.

"Well if it's the latter give me a call…I think I'm coming down with something," Gunn said back with a joking laugh as he patted the back of the chair that he was leaning against.

"Will do," Wesley replied with a nervous smile on his face before Gunn nodded his head and walked out of the room.  Wesley continued to search through the ancient and frail journal until he came across a passage of particular interest.  "The scythe…," Wesley mumbled softly to himself before he placed a bookmark on the page and slammed the ancient book shut.  Without minding to push his chair back in Wesley tore out of his office and headed towards the armory.

*                      *                        *                                 *                        *                       *

"So you're sure that they're gone Wil," Faith asked meekly, barely having the strength to keep an eye open, as she tried to come to grips with what Willow was trying to tell her.  The sun had only risen a few minutes earlier and she had barely woken up when Willow, Giles, Robin, and Xander had rushed into her room, or rather Buffy's room, with looks of complete fear and uncertainty plastered across their faces.  For a moment Faith didn't think that the witch was going to answer, but then she picked her chin up and did just that.

"Y…yeah, I've done…almost ten locator spells now, all with the same outcome, Buffy and Spike…aren't in Sunnydale anymore," Willow stammered out with an ashamed look on her face before she dropped her head again and looked at the tops of her shoes.

"And from the looks of things someone's been through Buffy's things…fairly recently, if I had to hazard a guess I'd say that Spike slipped in here sometime last night, swiped a few things for Buffy and the two then…," Giles started to say with a very watcher like scowl on his face before as he continued it was easy to see his aura of confidence shattering and he suddenly looked very old and like someone that was about to cry.

"They got the hell out of town…maybe we should join them," Xander said with an almost bitter tone to his voice before he looked around and almost whispered the last part.

"Well I say good riddance…they want to act cowardly and run away from the problem then fine, we can do this without them," Robin said with a very stern and mocking scowl on his face as he crossed his arms and looked over at Xander and Willow.

"Buffy is not a coward…," Xander declared with an angry frown on his face as he glared over at Robin.

"And neither is Spike, they're two of the bravest people that I've ever known," Willow said with a sad look on her face as she also looked to be on the verge of tears.

"That…thing, is not a person, it's a monster that I should have staked when I had the chance," Robin muttered with a very angry and vengeful frown on his face as he looked down to Faith.

"So now what do we do," Faith asked softly as she tried to keep from falling back to sleep while Giles stared out of the window at the special tree in the backyard. 

"For probably the first time in my life…I haven't a bloody clue," Giles replied softly with almost a totally defeated frown on his face as he shook his head.

*                   *                        *                                 *                         *                        *

He had flown past the welcome to Sunnydale sign only a few hours earlier but since the sun was already in its customary ascent across the sky Angel had to find a place to hide out for the day.  He had reluctantly chosen the Bronze, having to kick the doors in, thus rendering them useless in being anything but an impediment.  He had called over to Buffy's house a few times but every time that he had someone new had answered the phone.  That fact alone only made his wait for the sun to slip back beneath the horizon even more aggravating.  To pass the time he tried to catch up with a few old friends that lived in Sunnydale via the tunnels beneath the city, but his level of concern and alarm only grew as he discovered that they were all gone.

*                 *                           *                                  *                          *                      *

At first Spike had simply taken the first road out of town, not really caring where they were going.  He had done as Buffy had asked and snuck back into her room and collected some of her clothes before getting back out, all without anyone noticing.  While he had been gone Buffy had gone from house to house, trying to find as much money as she could find.  She hated the thought of what she was doing but she kept telling herself that she and Spike needed the money more than the people that had left it.  She had ended her trek through the city at the bank, being lucky to find the vault open and taking all that she could fine before returning to Spike's crypt where he had been waiting for her.  She had let him hold the door open for her as she took one last look at the town that she had died twice in defense of before she slipped into his car.  

They hadn't talked much until Sunnydale was behind them by at least three hours.  They had finally stopped in a small town out in the middle of nowhere when the sun had started to come up and Buffy was in no mood to drive.  Without a word of complaint Spike had pulled his DeSoto into the only motel in town and paid for a room for the two before returning to the car.  With the two carrying the bags the car was unpacked with little fanfare and taking even less time.  When they entered the room Buffy had hidden the scythe underneath the bed. Buffy had tried to lie down and fall asleep the moment that they got in the room while Spike pulled all of the blinds closed and checked the room over.  But no matter how hard she tried she found that she couldn't get to sleep.

"Spike…," Buffy asked with a nervous and somewhat scared look on her face as she looked up from her spot on the bed as Spike stepped out of the bathroom.

"Yes pet," Spike replied with a kind and somewhat tired smile on his face as he stood in the bathroom doorway admiring the woman that he loved.

"I…I can't get to sleep…could…could you," Buffy stammered out softly as she found it hard to ask for Spike's aid.  

"Prostitute myself off as a pillow again…," Spike said with a daring smirk on his face as he smiled down at Buffy before her brows furrowed in confusion.  "Move over," Spike added with a nervous sigh as he shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the bed beside Buffy, who did move over enough to allow him room.

"Do you think they're okay," Buffy asked softly with a poorly hidden touch of sadness in her voice as she snuggled in tight up to Spike, who wrapped his arms around her and brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear.

"Of course pet…ole Rupert might have a few cross words…hell that wanker Wood's probably overjoyed that I'm gone," Spike answered with a soft and calm smile on his face as Buffy looked up into his eyes and admired how much love that she saw in them.  The two shared a short laugh before Buffy laid her head down on Spike's chest and almost instantly went to sleep.  Spike stayed up for a couple of hours more, watching his loves every move, before finally slipping into sleep himself.

*                       *                         *                                     *                     *                     *

Wesley's day had been hectic to say the least.  After rushing out of his office and into the armory he had strapped on as many weapons as he could carry, everything from stakes and holy water to assault rifles and enough ammo for a siege.  It had taken him almost an hour to transport everything that he thought that he would need down to his SUV.  Along the way he had received several odd looks from some of the staffers that had stayed late and came in early.  Not in the mood to talk Wesley had passed by without a word and went about his work.  When he had finished packing up his SUV he left a message with Harmony about where he was going.  He pulled out of Wolfram and Hart's parking lot just as the sun was rising.  He filled up his tank on the way out of Los Angeles before flying off in the direction of Sunnydale, silently praying that he wasn't to late.

*                        *                        *                                 *                            *                  *

Buffy awoke first, not having any clue as to what time it was, and for possibly the first time in her life not really caring.  She cast a quick glance around the room and saw that nothing had changed since she had gone to sleep.  Spike's arms were still around her and for only the second time in the last few months she felt completely safe.  She tried her best to slip out of Spike's grasp and head to the bathroom.  Spike almost woke up when she shut the door but he was still fast asleep, or so she thought, when she softly opened the door back up and stepped out of the bathroom.

"All rested up luv," Spike asked with a soft snicker and smirk on his face as Buffy jumped in fright before spinning around on her heels and glaring down at Spike, who returned her glare with a sly smile of his own.

"Stop it…," Buffy said with an angry frown on her face as she took a step closer to the bed and glared at Spike.

"Stop what…I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about pet," Spike said softly, looking completely innocent as he slid off the edge of the bed and stood up in front of Buffy.

"Stop playing around Spike, don't try that again…," Buffy replied with a quickly lessening scowl of anger on her face as she inched closer to Spike, who leaned forward and smiled so broadly that Buffy thought for a second about decking him.

"Make me…," Spike dared with a daring smile on his face as he inched closer to Buffy and looked her in the eye, despite the growling in his stomach telling him that he hadn't had any blood for awhile.

"Fine…," Buffy said with a sly smirk of her own on her face before she reared back and threw a punch that Spike easily dodged before she the followed her first punch up with another.  Soon the two were doing their usual dance of fists and feet as they fought all throughout the room.  The fighting would probably have gone on much longer if Spike hadn't slipped on one of the pillows that Buffy had thrown off of the bed.  No matter how hard he tried Spike couldn't keep himself from falling backwards onto the bed.  Buffy took the advantage then and leapt from her spot near the door and landed squarely on top of him, pinning his arms down at his side, even though in truth Spike was happy where he was.

"Do your worst…," Spike said with a fake look of anger on his face as he half glared up at Buffy, who glared right back at him.  

"Oh trust me Spike…I will," Buffy whispered softly with a very serious frown on her face as she stared deeply into Spike's eyes before she leaned down and softly brushed her lips against his.  But rather than sit back up and wait for his reaction she stayed near enough for Spike to sit up as best he could and return the kiss.  The last thought that went through her head before she returned his kiss, while her hands slid underneath his shirt and his under hers, was that she hoped that she knew what she was doing.

*                               *                      *                            *                    *                  *

Wesley pulled into the first hotel in Sunnydale that he could see, barely being able to keep his eyes open from lack of sleep.  Much to his dismay he discovered that even though the doors were unlocked no one was around.  Rather than worry about what that meant he grabbed the first key that he came to and trudged up the stairs to his room.  He fell asleep almost the instant that he got into his room.  Luckily he had gotten into his room far enough and collapsed onto the bed.  When he awoke it was night out again and after a quick trip to the restroom he carried his bag back downstairs and searched around for something to eat.  He finally came across what had once been a nice buffet but now consisted mostly of rotting and spoiled food.  With a sickly frown on his face Wesley picked through the buffet and the kitchen beyond before finding enough food to satisfy his hunger.  He was about to walk back out to his SUV when he caught a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye.  He barely had time to duck out of the way before the blade of a knife went flashing by.  He instantly dropped the bag that he had been carrying and rolled away from where he guessed the attacker had come from, pulling out one of his guns as he did so.

When he rose to a kneeling position he had to act fast as the knife that had earlier almost slit his throat was now coming towards him with its aim directly at his heart.  Almost without a second thought Wesley aimed and fired, dropping his attacker almost instantly.  He stayed on his knees for several seconds more, half expecting another attack to be close at hand.  But as the seconds turned into minutes he stood back up and looked down at his attacker, one that he recognized almost instantly.  "Bloody hell…they're here already, it's worse than I thought," Wesley said with a quickly growing feeling of dread and worry in the pit of his stomach.  Slowly and carefully Wesley began to back out of the kitchen after picking up his bag.  He had gotten back out into the lobby before he was caught by surprise as he shifted his bag from one shoulder to another.  He cried out in pain as a clawed hand raked first across his side and then his shoulder.  

*                    *                           *                                 *                        *                       *

As night fell Angel slipped out of the Bronze armed with only his fists.  He intended to do a quick sweep around the city before rushing over to Buffy's house to make sure that everything was already and offer her his aid in the fight.  However he hadn't gone to far when he heard a noise and hugged the corner of the nearest building, peeking his head out to get a look.  He silently cursed himself for being so jumpy as all that he saw were a few fledgling vampires wandering down the street.  He was about to turn back into the alley when he saw what, or probably more importantly who, was coming up behind the vampires.  Several feet behind the vampires were a number of harbingers of the First.  With nary a second thought Angel leapt out from his corner and landed his fist on the first fledgling's chin, knocking the vampire to the ground and morphing into his game face at the same time.

The remaining vampires used the time honored strategy of bull rushing Angel, receiving in return a stake through the heart as Angel had hidden a few under his coat in case he'd need them.  The harbingers however came at him one at a time.  Even though he easily outweighed them and was much more experienced he still had a hard time against them.  As he snapped the neck of the last bringer Angel started to turn around but stopped when a bolt from a crossbow slammed into his back, barely missing his heart.  With a growl that combined pain and anger he spun around to face his attacker.  He almost laughed out loud when he saw in front of him about half a dozen young girls, all clutching weapons, glaring at him while a bald African American man stood amongst them, loading another bolt onto his crossbow while having a sword clasped at his waist.

"This is a joke right…," Angel asked with a hearty chuckle that made more than one of the young girls change the look on their faces from confidence to fear.

"No joke monster…," A very defiant brunette growled angrily at Angel as she raised her sword and rushed towards him.

"Come on…this is just pathetic…leave before someone gets hurt," Angel said with a nervous smile on his face as he easily blocked the brunette's sword thrust and with a quick kick he knocked the sword out of her hands.

"You're the only one that's going to get hurt around here," The African American man shouted with an angry and frustrated scowl on his face as he finished loading the bolt onto his crossbow and aimed it directly at Angel's heart.

"I don't think so," Angel said with a growing scowl of frustration on his face as he grabbed the brunette and spun her around, putting her in between himself and the crossbow aimed at his heart.

"L…let her go," Another of the young girls shouted at him, her voice full of fear, as she glared at him.

"Or what, you'll stare me to death…sorry but I'm busy," Angel started to say with a bored frown on his face before the man dropped his crossbow and took up his sword.  The brunette that Angel had been using as a shield jammed her heel down onto Angel's toes, momentarily making Angel release his grip on her.  Taking the opportunity provided her the brunette rolled away and scurried off to find her weapon.  By the time that she turned around the African American man and the rest of the girls were charging at Angel.  She watched in part awe and part horror as Angel easily danced through his attackers, making them all look like little children.  Even though he pulled his punches Angel knew that several of the times that his fists or elbows connected the young girl would have a nasty bruise soon enough.  He chuckled a bit as he easily dodged the first strike by the sword and spun around, kicking the man square in the chest with his foot, sending him flying back into a pile of old packing boxes.  Angel deftly picked up the man's dropped sword and turned back to the girls.  "Okay…who's next," Angel said with a daring growl before he almost laughed as the girls picked themselves up and ran away, with the two that had yelled at him earlier going to the man's aid.  When that trio looked back into the roadway Angel was gone, leaving only the sword and the crossbow bolt behind.

END OF CHAPTER 2


	3. The Water Turns Dark

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 3-THE WATER TURNS DARK**

The lightning jolts of pain shooting through his body made it difficult to concentrate.  He had only gotten a quick glimpse of what had attacked him because after the initial gesture of having his side and shoulder slashed Wesley had managed to stumble back outside of the hotel.  He had heard whatever it was that had attacked him crash into something and howl in rage.  He didn't waste any time as he found to his horror that the cuts had gone deep enough that now his left arm was quickly growing weak.  By the time he got back to his SUV Wesley had to resort to doing everything with his right arm and hand because he could barely move his left arm.  Whatever had attacked him finally got itself freed up and came crashing through the windows in the front of the hotel just as Wesley turned the key and fired the engine.  As the engine roared to life he hit the lights and fumbled for his shotgun that he had laid on the seat beside him.  As he reached for the shotgun though the creature that had attacked him snarled in anger and leapt up on top of his hood.

"Bloody hell," Wesley cursed in both anger and pain as the creature thrust its fist straight through the windshield, showering Wesley with small slivers of razor sharp glass, and cried furiously when it discovered that its hand was caught.  Fighting through the throbbing pain in his left shoulder and side Wesley brought the shotgun up level to the creature on the hood and pulled the trigger.  Emptying both barrels into the creature resulted in almost the complete destruction of Wesley's windshield, but luckily the creature didn't fare much better.  Not taking the time to make sure whether or not the creature was dead or alive Wesley painfully tore out of the hotel's parking lot and sped off down the road.

*                          *                                *                     *                       *                        *

After his encounter with Robin and the potentials Angel had retreated back to the Bronze, hoping to use the down time to let his body heal and to try to figure out exactly who he had faced a few minutes earlier.  He debated on whether or not to call Buffy and ask her for help but decided against it as he had always been the one that she asked for help and his pride was still in full force.  Not knowing exactly what was happening in Sunnydale but knowing that whatever it was spelled trouble with a capital trouble Angel furiously looked the Bronze over from top to bottom.  In the end he found only a piece of a newspaper, which had a headline telling about a mass migration out of Sunnydale.  Being even more confused by this Angel took another few minutes before swallowing his pride and setting off towards Revello Drive.

*                      *                              *                           *                     *                          *

While Robin had taken Rhona, Vi, Kennedy, and some of the better prepared potentials out on a patrol sweep of the city Willow and Giles had decided it best to keep the rest of them back at base camp.  Giles had spent much of the time watching over Faith, who could now sit up on her own and generally hated being watched over like she was a five year old.  Xander and Anya had also gone out into the city, although they had only gotten so far as their old apartment before one thing led to another and soon patrolling was put on hold for the night in lieu of a much more enjoyable activity for the two.  Dawn had locked herself in her room after Buffy and Spike left, except for one daylight trip to Spike's crypt done in the vain hope and prayer that the two had come back.  No matter what Giles or Willow could think up the youngest Summers' would simply not open the door.  Finally deciding to give Dawn some time Willow had returned to the kitchen only to find Robin and those he had taken out on patrol with him that night looking tired and scared stiff.

"What happened," Willow exclaimed with a frightened look on her face as she rushed to get the first aid kit off of the kitchen counter.

"What's it look like, we got our asses kicked…royally," Rhona growled with a frustrated scowl on her face that hid the enormous reservoir of fear beneath.

"What…," A very shocked and nervous Xander asked as he rushed into the kitchen followed closely behind by an indifferent Anya.

"We were patrolling…and then we ran into…a vampire…he laughed at us," Vi managed to stammer out before bursting into tears.

"One vampire did all of this…," Willow said almost in a terrified whisper as she surveyed the injured potentials and Robin.

"He wasn't just…a vampire Willow, it was like he…it knew what we were going to do before we did it, we didn't stand a chance," Robin said with a pained grimace on his face and a hand on his chest as he leaned heavily back up against the refrigerator.

"A psychic vampire…great, this is just what we need right now," An exasperated Xander chimed in with sadly as he helped a few of the potentials to sit down and hand him their weapons.

"I doubt that he was psychic Xander…more like a more experienced fighter that had seen this fighting style before…," Willow said with a nervous frown on her face as she shook her head and took a few bandages out of the first aid kit.

"But who would know how the potentials fought…Buffy trained them but…," Xander asked with a confused and almost haunted frown on his face as he tried to search for the answer in the gazes of those around him.

"Then it has to be a vampire that's fought Buffy before right…a vampire that would know all of her moves," Anya interjected with an optimistic smile on her face as she managed to get Robin off of the refrigerator long enough to get the ice cube tray out.

"Right…but the question is who…most vampires that Buffy faced didn't make it to round two, only Angel and Spike stuck around long enough to…," Xander replied with a deep look of frustrated thought on his face as he pulled out a chair for one of the injured potentials.

"Hold it Xander, before we go jumping to conclusions we should go about this logically…what did this vampire look like, hair color, height, build…that usual," Willow stepped in with a nervous look of caution on her face as she started to inspect a bruise.

"Well he was big…," Vi replied with a nervous look of panic on her face before she squeezed herself into a corner of the room and looked away.

"Good…see now we're getting somewhere…he was big, okay what else," Willow asked with a positive smile on her face as she cast a quick glance around the room, hoping to turn some frowns upside down.

"Tall, dark, with one hell of a right hook," Rhona answered with a nervous frown on her face as she rubbed a bruise that was beginning to form on her cheek.

"And also a high dislike for getting shot by a crossbow bolt," Robin added weakly before he pushed off of the refrigerator and headed towards the living room.

An hour later found Willow, with Giles at her side, doing her best to call a meeting of the potential generally assembly to order.  After checking up on Faith and trying his best to hide his injuries from her Wood had carefully sat down in one of the chairs nearest to Willow and Giles.  Xander and Anya took up positions on opposite sides of the group than Willow and Giles to help to keep order.  Faith had wanted to participate in the meeting, going so far as to get up out of bed and make her way to the top of the stairs before a worried Robin and Giles had convinced her to go back to bed and gets some sleep.  Reluctantly the former rogue slayer had complied and had fallen asleep shortly after getting back into bed.

"Okay now…will everyone please settle down, we have a lot to talk about and not a lot of time to do it in," Giles said loudly with a very stern look on his face and tone to his voice as he looked around the living room while adjusting his glasses.  

"Yeah, like what we're going to do about this new vampire in town, I swear one night after we kick Buffy out of here…," Kennedy started to say with a rather smug smile on her face, as she leaned back up against the wall and crossed her arms, before she was interrupted by a voice that caused everyone in the room to jump, even Giles and Willow.

"That had better be a joke…because if I heard you right then someone's here's going to be in a mountain of trouble…," Angel stated with a very angry and determined scowl on his face as he appeared from around a darkened corner and stood in the living room doorway, glaring at everyone in the room before finally boring a hole with his gaze through a trembling Willow.

"Angel…," Willow gasped out with a terrified look on her face as she began to slowly hide behind Giles, who found himself unable to speak.

"Angel…oh no, he's evil again," Xander exclaimed with a look of panic on his face as he pressed himself back up against the boarded up window and looked to Giles and Willow for help.

"I'm not evil, I haven't been for a while, why does everyone keep saying that," A confused but very determined and scowling Angel replied as he took a step into the living room, sending skittish and terrified potentials scrambling to get out of his way.

"You," Robin shouted with a very angry and shocked look on his face as he leapt out of his chair and charged Angel.

"Wrong move pal," Angel growled under his breath with an annoyed scowl on his face as he caught Robin's fist in the palm of his hand and wrenched Robin's arm around behind his back before he reared back and punched the slayers son hard in the jaw.  Before anyone could almost move a muscle Angel vamped out and lift his gaze back up to bore another hole through Willow, but instead aimed his gaze straight at Giles.  "Now I'm only going to ask this once…so don't even think about lying to me…where's Buffy," Angel asked with a very serious and threatening look on his face as Anya started to edge closer to a scared stiff Xander.

"She's not here…," An oddly calm Dawn said clearly as she slowly descended the stairs and stood in front of Angel, not making any moves to defend herself.

"Dawn…where is she," Angel asked, with a readily apparent amount of tension in his voice as he struggled to keep the demon in check.

"She's gone…we don't know where, after she lead a raid on Caleb that ended in disaster we talked and voted her out as our leader…we haven't seen or heard from her since last night, Spike stopped in afterwards and called us…and I'm quoting him…sad, sad, ungrateful traitors...then he and Faith fought for a bit before he bailed to find Buffy," Dawn replied with a calm look on her face that hid the absolutely terrified little girl underneath that was dying inside from her part in the banishment of her sister.

"Is that right…you know I think that this is a first for Spike…he was actually right for a change, who the hell do you think you are," Angel said coldly at first with an intense glare down at Dawn, who visibly trembled at Angel's glare while still in game face, before he turned his glare towards the rest of those assembled in the living room and eerily imitated how Spike had sounded when he had asked the same question.

"He said that to," Andrew said softly under his breath as he hid in the corner and tried his best to stay out of Angel's sight.

"Like they told Spike…they're her friends…," Robin grumbled loudly with a pained wince on his face as he tried to free himself but Angel only growled and increased both the pressure and pain of the hold.

"That's a joke right…after everything that she's done for you…don't even think about it Giles…this is how you repay her, put everything on her shoulders and then when the shit hits the fan you blame her for your failings…," Angel laughed with a mocking tone to his voice as he said the first part, getting a visible cringe and a lone tear from Dawn, before he set his jaw and nearly had to mouth the rest of his threat.

"Angel please…you don't understand…there were extenuating circumstances…," Giles started to say with a scared stupid frown on his face as he steeled his nerves and took a step forward in Angel's general direction.

"There always are with you aren't there Rupert," Angel sneered back with an angry glare on his face before he shoved Robin into the wall, knocking him unconscious.  "I'm going to find Buffy now…and I swear that if there's even one single hair out of place on her head I'll come back here and let you all see a little bit of why the name Angelus…is a legend," Angel added with a very furious look on his face as he slipped out of his game face before he turned and stormed out of the house, nearly ripping the front door off of its hinges as he did so.  Seconds later Dawn's composure finally shattered and she slid down to a seat on the lowest step of the stairs, shaking like a leaf as the sobs wracked her body.

*                              *                     *                           *                      *                          *

Wesley didn't exactly remember the way to get to Buffy's house and his finding it was more a stroke of luck than anything else.  He was beginning to feel a bit faint from the loss of blood as well as what he thought was the beginnings of his body going into shock because of the severity of his injuries.  His vision was beginning to blur a bit so when his eyes caught sight of a road sign that read Revello Drive he had to stop his SUV and do his best to clear his vision before looking again.  As he pulled into the driveway of what he hope was the right house Wesley cursed loudly as he reached across his body with his right hand to open the door.  He slid out of the SUV and only halfheartedly shut the door behind him as he slowly made his way towards the front door.

*                                *                      *                      *                          *                        *

Inside the house on Revello Drive everyone was still reeling from Angel's visit when Wesley pulled his SUV into the driveway and got out.  Robin has been taken back to the kitchen and Anya and Giles were making sure that he was alright.  Willow and Xander had taken all of the potentials back downstairs to the basement and had started them working on some more training, anything to calm their anxious nerves.  After her brief appearance in front of Angel Dawn had rushed back upstairs and locked herself back in her room, refusing to come out.  From outside in the hallway Willow had been able to hear the younger Summers continue sobbing away.  Andrew had hidden in the living room long enough for everyone to forget that he was even there, allowing him a chance to plop down on the couch and try to find something to watch on television.

"Buffy…knew him…," Robin stuttered out with a tired and pained grimace on his face as Giles helped him to sit down on one of the stools.  Anya and Giles shared a nervous and slightly scared look before Giles turned back to Robin.

"You could say that…shortly after Buffy arrived here in Sunnydale she bumped into Angel, or rather he bumped into her…anyway they dated," Giles started to say with a flustered smile on his face as he handed a wet washcloth to Robin.

"But he's a vampire…," Robin asked with a confused look on his face as he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing.

"So…that never seemed to stop those two from getting it on…her and Spike either," Anya quipped with an absentminded smile on her face, not fully realizing what it was that she was saying, even through the confused look that Robin cast her and the angry one that Giles sent her way.  "What…," Anya mumbled with a slightly hurt frown on her face before she shrugged her shoulders and went to the refrigerator to get some more ice.

"Wait a minute…she actually…slept with that monster," Robin asked with a completely flabbergasted and disbelieving look on his face as his mind desperately tried to come to grips with what he was hearing.

"Unfortunately yes…and at the time none of us had any idea that it was happening…and when he left town I hoped that it would be for good…but alas…I was wrong," Giles replied with a nervous frown on his face as he pulled a stool up beside Robin.

"You sure were…he came back with a soul…but I guess you already know that," Anya started to say with a very excited smile on her face before her countenance fell to a look that was more crestfallen.

"Yes Anya…I did, Buffy told me, but why did he leave…after seeing him and Buffy together I don't see why he would have," Robin asked with a pained wince as he brought the wet washcloth up to the already forming bruise on his jaw.

"Really…I'm surprised that Xander hasn't told you what happened that night in the bathroom…," Anya quipped again with a confused look on her face as she scrunched up her face for a bit before looking optimistically over at Giles.

"Bathroom…what," Robin asked with a confused frown on his face as he turned his hardened gaze towards the former vengeance demon.

"Well after she broke up with him he came here that night and tried to force…," Anya started to say with a very serious look on her face before she was interrupted by someone knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it…," Willow said with a nervous and slightly scared look on her face as she came up from the basement and headed towards the front door.

"What if it's him again," Robin asked with a concerned frown on his face as he shifted his gaze from Anya to the pile of weapons on the counter.

"Then we'll be ready," Giles said with a very determined look on his face as he slid off of the stool and grabbed one of the crossbows on his way to the front door, just as Willow was turning the doorknob.

"Okay Angel we…Wesley," Willow started to say with a very serious look on her face, one that soon changed to one of utter shock and worry, at the sight of the grizzled former watcher in front of her.

"Hello Willow...Giles…nice night," Wesley mumbled back softly with a tired and pain filled smile on his face before he ducked his head slightly and walked past them into the house.

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. A Fateful Decision

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 4-A FATEFUL DECISION**

Faith had been almost to sleep when her ears had perked up at a familiar voice.  At first she secretly wished that it were Buffy, giving her the chance to get her whispered apology across.  But that thought passed in an instant as she heard the gasps of shock and confusion at the identity of the visitor.  From her spot in Buffy's bed she could hear a few startled gasps of some of the more seasoned slayers in training that had undoubtedly wandered back upstairs after Willow had left.  She could hear Robin's continuous demands for an explanation as to why the visitor was being greeted as he was.  Through the demand for answers and the few that were given she was finally able to determine exactly who the visitor was. 

Her breath caught in her throat as she finally recognized his voice, the voice that had at the same time haunted and captivated her dreams.  Ever since that night that she had lashed him to a chair and took out her frustrations and anger on him.  Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, the man that until he had suddenly slumped into a chair and billed himself as her lawyer, she had never expected to see until she was an old maid.  His sudden appearance that day had sparked something in her, something that she had long felt dead.  Had she been less of a pessimist she would have called it hope, and maybe joy.  But with her current disposition she had initially regarded his visit as of one to mock her status behind the prison walls.  But all of that had changed when she had taken a good look at him and was startled to see that the new look fitted him very well.  Gone was the weak, uptight, and anal retentive yearling watcher that looked better fit to run a glee club than to guide and train a slayer.  In his place sat a scorned, defeated, rugged, and haunted shell of a man that years earlier wouldn't have warranted a passing glance.  But for some reason this time the man in front of her had fanned the flames of a long repressed emotion, one that she was not particularly akin to dealing with.

"Faith…," Wesley whispered softly with an almost desperate tone to his voice, a tone that immediately set off Faith's finely honed warning bells of danger ahead.

"Wha…Wes…what are you…," Faith asked softly as she tried to sound like he had woken her from a deep slumber even though she had been listening to the entire conversation downstairs.

"We need to talk…there are things that I believe that you should know about…," Wesley continued with a grim frown on his face as he suddenly looked away and winced sharply at the pain of laying his left arm onto his lap.

"You came all this way just to chat…God Wes…here I was thinking that you were looking for a little…," Faith joked in her usual sexy and sarcastic tone of voice before she was interrupted by Wesley being consumed by a fit of violent coughing.  By the moonlight Faith thought that she saw Wesley wipe what looked like blood onto his jeans.

"I don't have time for your mockery Faith this is important…I recently uncovered something that could greatly help you and Buffy in your struggle against the First, and now with Buffy being absent for some reason you're the only one left…," Wesley growled with an angry and almost scary tone to his voice, one that surprisingly made Faith flinch a bit, before he grabbed her shoulder and gave it a hard squeeze.  Flinching and Faith had never gone together very well and over the years Faith had recognized that whenever something or someone affected her enough to cause her to flinch then whatever was going on was something of the utmost importance.

"Geez Wesley I was just kidding…you didn't have to…," Faith started to say back softly with a stern tone to her voice as she pushed Wesley's hand off of her shoulder before she rubbed her thumb and fingers together slowly, feeling something slick in between them, and immediately getting a very bad feeling about the situation that she found herself in.

"I…I'm sorry…this night hasn't exactly gone how I expected it to, I've run into a few…interruptions, along the way," Wesley replied with an apologetic tone to his voice as he slowly and awkwardly stood up, and act that Faith watched closely and furrowed her brows at the almost ancient like pace that it took Wesley to finally get back up to his full height.

"Yeah…haven't we all…," Faith snickered sarcastically with a bitter scowl on her face before the moonlight splashed across Wesley's face and for the first time she saw that there was definitely something not quite right with her former watcher.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes…like that of a newborn doe…so soft…yet so hauntingly entrancing and entrapping at the same time…," Wesley mused with an odd but sincere smirk on his face as he half turned back towards Faith, who had to recover from the shock and sincerity of his words before she could respond.

"Okay…now you're scaring me…not that what you said isn't the truth…props for noticing by the way…I hope that you don't expect me to say anything about your beautiful baby blues…but what's with the sudden turn of…Wesley," Faith started to ask with a nervous look on her face as she slowly began to climb out from under the covers while Wesley slowly began to walk towards the window before he uttered a soft grunt and collapsed onto the floor, making Faith scream his name out loud as she made a mad scramble off of the bed and to his side.  Almost instantly Giles and Robin burst into the room, with Willow and Rhona close behind, with weapons drawn ready for a fight.  

"Faith what's…damn…," Rhona started to ask with a concerned look on her face before she flipped on the light switch and caught sight of what had happened.  Faith sat on the floor near the window, cradling a now very badly bleeding Wesley in her arms and for probably the first time since taking power from Buffy Rhona thought that Faith looked very much like a scared child and nothing like their fearless leader.

*                   *                             *                                 *                         *                        *

Night slipped its melancholy veil over the sleepy town that Buffy and Spike had stopped in before either of them woke up.  Nearly a day had passed since they left Sunnydale and neither one had made an attempt to get in contact with anyone there.  Their unexpected romantic interlude had happened just as Angel had barreled back towards Los Angeles trying to make sense of the whole situation and Giles and everyone back in Sunnydale were doing their best to help treat Wesley's injuries.  Buffy had woken up first and after very reluctantly slipping out of Spike's arms had checked and double checked that the scythe was still where she had left it under the bed.  After that she had pulled on her clothes, not bothering to put her underwear on first, and slipped out of the hotel room, but not before leaving a quickly scrawled note saying that she had gone to get some supplies.  When Spike awoke he grumbled about the note but concluded that Buffy was right and so turned the television on in hopes to find something good to watch.  He had just flipped onto an old black and white movie that he loved when Buffy slipped back into the room, two full grocery bags in her arms.

"We're in luck…there's an all night grocery store just around the corner, he had everything that we need…I even got you some fresh pigs blood…but you should have seen the look on his face when I asked him about it…," Buffy said, more to the room that Spike, as she entered the room and dropped the bags onto the bed in a very unceremonious way.  

"There'll be plenty of time for that later pet…," Spike mumbled with an annoyed and unhappy pout on his face before he looped his arms around Buffy's waist and pulled her close, delighted that she made no effort to stop him.

"We can't do this now Spike…no matter how much we both want to," Buffy said with a somber frown on her face as she put a fair amount of emphasis on the word both in her statement.

"Care to give a fella a reason why not…or am I supposed to guess," Spike asked with a slightly concerned look on his face as he leaned back a bit and stared Buffy in the eye.  

"The money that we have isn't going to last forever…and someone's going to get suspicious of all of the brand new money that we keep throwing around, besides we can't keep running forever, it has to stop sometime," Buffy replied with an unhappy pout of her own before the two slowly sat down, side by side, on the end of the bed in silence for a few seconds.

"Alright then…we'll go to Los Angeles and drop in on my grandsire, I heard that he owns a hotel or something, there'll be plenty of rooms there…and best of all…we can stay there as long as we want to without paying any rent," Spike quipped with an oddly calm look of certainty on his face as Buffy nearly gasped in astonishment at what she was hearing.

"Alright…who are you and what have you done with my Spike…," Buffy asked very pointedly with only the smallest trace of a smile on her face as she eyed Spike oddly.

"I haven't done a bloody thing…and stop staring at me like my brain's become addled or something…I know that Angel and I have never really gotten along very well since you've known us but this soul of mine has been pushing me to make things right with the old wanker, even if I would rather stake him, and here's a perfect chance for that…making amends…not the staking part…," Spike replied with a nervous smile on his face before he was glad to see Buffy eye him oddly for a bit before finally relaxing and laying back onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"He's not going to be happy about this you know…us just showing up on his doorstep smelling like we just took a bath in…," Buffy started to extrapolate with a worried and unsure look on her face as Spike laid down beside her and turned his head towards her.

"So what if he doesn't like it…you're not his girl anymore…you're mine…right," Spike started off saying with a very self assured smile on his face before his expression changed to one of worry at the end.

"Right…now turn off the TV and help me get these bags into the car, we have to get to LA before sunrise…," Buffy replied with a slightly nervous look on her face before she leaned in close and gave Spike a soft kiss.  

"Good…," Spike whispered back softly with a relieved smile on his face before he jumped up from the bed and ran outside, both bags in hand, completely forgetting to turn off the television like Buffy had asked him to.

"Hey…you forgot the…ah who cares anyway, we fail and the world ends it won't matter if we left the tv on," Buffy grumbled with a bored and sarcastic frown on her face before she retrieved the scythe from underneath the bed, turned the television off and shut the door behind her as the left the hotel room

*                     *                       *                               *                          *                       *

"Did he say when he was going to be back…," Gunn asked Fred with a nervous frown on his face as he idly stared at the control panel of the elevator as the numbers slowly ascended up the ladder from the basement.

"We are talking about the same Angel right…the vampire that when you say good morning to him he looks at you like you've contracted the plague," Fred offered up as an odd reply with a bored and worried look on her face before the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.  

"The plague…really, I was thinking more like that you contracted one of those nasty flesh eating viruses," Gunn joked with an amused smirk on his face as he followed Fred out of the elevator and towards the stairs.  

"I must be getting old…used to be able to heal a wound like this in no time…," A gruff looking Angel wondered aloud as he gingerly held a hand on his left shoulder and stepped around the corner.  

"Angel, where…you're injured," Fred started to say with an exasperated gasp before she saw the blood on Angel's shirt and rushed to his side.

"It's not really that bad…just a crossbow bolt to the back, I've had worse," Angel replied with a slightly embarrassed smile on his face as he started to shrug his shoulders before wincing badly in pain.

"Sure you have, but right now we can't afford to have you at anything less than your best, shortly after you left Wesley found something in one of his books and tore out of here like a bat out of hell," Gunn said with a serious and somewhat sarcastic smile on his face before Fred jumped in.

"He said that he was going to Sunnydale to see Buffy…did you…," Fred started to ask with a concerned pout on her face as she helped Angel into his office and to the nearest chair.

"She's gone…they kicked her out…those bastards kicked her out, they say they're her friends, but then when push comes to shove they toss her out like trash…," Angel growled with a very angry and resentful frown scowl on his face before his anger consumed him and he angrily pounded his fist down onto the desktop, nearly punching a hole straight through it.  

"Are you…sure…Angel…are you sure that's what happened…I mean you've told us that sometimes they get a little trigger happy and…," Fred started to ask with a scared and worried look on her face as she started to pull Angel's shirt open to inspect the wound before Angel stopped her.

"No…I heard right, they didn't like how she handled things so they took a vote and elected Faith their new leader…," Angel growled with a very angry look on his face as he again pounded his fist down onto the desktop before wincing badly in pain.  

"So then where's Wesley…why hasn't he contacted us yet," Gunn said softly as he asked the question that was on everyone's minds but no one else wanted to utter it.

"Who knows…it's not like he tells me anything anyway…Harmony be Angel's secretary…get him his blood…remember to heat it up just right, blah…blah…blah…," A nicely dressed Harmony groaned with a bored and unhappy look on her face as she slowly walked into Angel's office and laid a mug of heated up blood in front of Angel.

"Harmony, what are you still doing here," Angel asked with an exasperated and slightly angry scowl on his face as he gingerly reached for the mug.

"Hello…vampire here…creature of the night…any of this getting through," Harmony responded in her almost usual scatterbrained manner before a pensive Lilah walked in and glared at the former cheerleader.

"Hail the conquering hero…so how many of our clients did you off this time," Lilah asked with an almost mocking smirk on her face as she pushed a lamp off to the side and sat down on the edge of Angel's desk, making sure that he watched her as she slowly crossed her legs.

"This isn't a good time Lilah, so why don't you do us all a favor and go find someone else to annoy," Gunn stated with a frustrated and impatient frown on his face as he retrieved the first aid kit from a drawer on the other side of the office.

"Ooh Charles…good one...I'm quaking in my boots…," Lilah said with a daring and playful smile on her face before Angel heavily furrowed his brows and glared at her.  "Okay already…Wesley's gone and this one's about as interesting to talk to as a cardboard box," She continued with a slightly annoyed sigh as she dropped her chin into the palm of her upturned palm and cast her gaze out of the window onto nothing in particular.

"Hey…," Harmony shouted with a hurt expression on her face as she stomped her foot and glared at Lilah before Angel, with his eyes, ordered her to leave the room.  "Fine, I'm going…but you know what…I'll be back, oh yes I will," Harmony added with a proud and almost threatening look on her face and tone to her voice before she spun around and walked out of Angel's office.

*                            *                         *                            *                         *                       *

"He's a watcher…," Rhona asked with a skeptical look on her face as she pulled up a stool and dropped her elbows onto the counter.

"He doesn't look like my watcher…," Vi added with a meek and almost fearful look on her face as she shrunk away from the counter and looked for a corner to squeeze into.  

"Wesley's not like most of the other watchers, he was put in charge of Buffy and Faith years earlier than most watchers," Willow interjected with a worried look on her face as she looked back over her shoulder at the stairs.  After his collapse Faith had insisted that Wesley be given the prime spot in Buffy's bed, refusing Giles and Robin's repeated requests for her to let them handle everything.  Kennedy had been dispatched to bring up any and all bandages that were left while Vi had been sent to get some dry and wet towels.  The meek potential slayer nearly threw up at the sight that greeted her as Giles carefully pulled first Wesley's coat and then shirt off.  Both articles of clothing were stained red with his blood and Giles had almost missed the two pistols that were hidden carefully in their holsters.  Faith had stared at the guns with a look that was an odd combination of wonder and pride on her face before Willow had quickly wrapped them in a towel and ushered them off to a safe spot in the house, away from any of the potentials and most importantly Andrew, who had to be threatened with bodily harm before he calmed down.

"So then why isn't he still their watcher," Robin asked with a pessimistic scowl on his face as he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

"Things didn't go so well and the council replaced him and reinstated Giles," Willow replied with a nervous frown on her face as she shook her head and stared at the top of the counter.

"So how he'd go from yuppie watcher to…that," Robin asked with a not wholly convinced frown on his face as he found what he was looking for and pulled out a bottle of juice.

"I'm not sure, but whatever the reason we won't know until he wakes up…whatever attacked him got him good, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a good day or so before he can answer any questions," Giles answered for Willow as he walked into the room, still drying his hands off after changing Wesley's bandages.

"Who's with him now," Rhona asked with a tired yawn as she leaned back and stretched her sore shoulder.

"Faith…I tried to tell her to get some sleep and that I'd watch Wesley but she wouldn't have any of it, she said that she…owed it…to him to stay and keep him company…why she'd think that I cannot imagine but whatever her reasons Faith is adamant about this course of action, and I suggest that we leave them be for right now," Giles answered with a grim frown on his face as he took his glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes before Willow sadly turned around on her stool and gazed fully at the stairs.

*                             *                         *                                  *                      *                     *

"What the hell happened to you Wes…some of these are mine…but these…," Faith whispered softly to Wesley as she leaned in close and gently ran her fingers over the tops of some of the scars that had etched themselves into Wesley's body before her gaze fell upon many newer scars.  She wondered if he still had nightmares about the night in the apartment, the night in which she had nearly killed him.  Most of the scars that she had given him had healed up well enough that they weren't too visible to anyone that didn't know where to look beforehand.  But what captivated her the most, and caused a very sick feeling to form in the pit of her stomach, was when she fearfully glided her fingers over a scar on Wesley's stomach, a scar that Faith had seen many times before, that of close range gunshot wound.  "When did you get shot…God this is all getting so fucked up…I'm no leader…that's B's job…come on Wes…don't die on my now, not after surviving what I did to you…don't leave me…," Faith wondered aloud with a worried look on her face before her emotions surprised her and overtook her as the tears began to fall before she gingerly laid an arm across Wesley's battered body and laid her head down on his uninjured shoulder, yawning widely once before quickly falling into a calming slumber.

*                             *                           *                          *                            *                    *

"Okay…our first priority is to find Buffy, wherever she is…and bring her here…Gunn, I want you to get our people on it, I want Buffy found before anything more happens to her," Angel declared with a very serious and worried scowl on his face as he paced around the boardroom with one hand pressed overtop of his injured shoulder.

"Don't worry Angel…we'll find her, but if what you said is true…about them kicking her out…then…," Fred started to stammer through an attempt to make Angel feel better before she faltered and turned to Gunn for help.

"Then she could be anywhere…," Gunn added with an impatient and worried look on his face as he slumped down into his plush chair and stared tiredly at the reports in front of him.

"Or right behind you wondering when you became the undead's version of Donald Trump and never told me," A tired and weary Buffy quipped with a sarcastic smirk on her face as Angel whirled around and stared blankly at her with a confused look on his face.

"Buffy…," Angel whispered more in awe and surprise than relief before his grandchilde stepped up beside Buffy and an unmistakable aroma wafted his way.

"Hello Peaches…hope we're not interrupting," Spike said with a sly grin on his face as he leaned in close and slung an arm around Buffy's shoulders. 

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Things Get Interesting

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**Author's Note:  Wesley waking up after passing out happens the same morning that Spike/Buffy show up unexpectedly in the doorway, just so that everyone's up to date and the timeline doesn't get confused, because I've jumped back and forth a bit.  And Angel isn't mad at Wesley, he's mad at the Scoobies.  And the potentials have faced the Turok-Han since they fought them after the bomb blew up and Buffy came in and killed them all before getting everyone to safety.**

**CHAPTER 5-THINGS GET INTERESTING**

Roses.  Roses, grease, and a fair amount of dirt.  A myriad of aromas assaulted his senses as the world came back into focus to him.  He had no idea how long he had been out, but upon managing to force open one eye and look down he found that his wounds had been cleaned and sufficiently dressed.  What he didn't know was by whom, sure he had his guesses but wasn't in a mood to only guess.  When he managed to crack his other eye open an odd, but almost comforting sight greeted him.  Curled up against him, with an arm draped lazily yet almost comfortingly around his waist, lay his slayer.  No, on second thought, not his slayer but the one in whom he had failed to serve as watcher.  A sense of confusion washed over him and for a time he seriously thought about moving to rouse her from her slumber.  But oddly enough, maybe because of the dizzy feeling in his head, he calmed down and took a closer look at the slayer with the unruly mass of chocolate curls that was softly snoring at his side.  She had changed so much over the last few years.  When he had first met her he had been struck more by her seemingly endless supply of energy and quick change of attitude.  That coupled with her razor sharp wit and daring smile had endeared him almost immediately to her, making her turn to the darker side even more disturbing and hurtful.  For long months after her incarceration he had blamed himself every night in his sleep and in his quiet moments before Angel or Cordelia would interrupt and ask him about something that even a future watcher in his first year of training could help with.  But over the rest of the time he had changed his way of thinking and come to the conclusion that they had both erred in their judgments and actions and that they both had points to apologize for.   

When he had been nearly at his wits end in scrounging to come up with a way to find and then bring Angelus' reign of terror to a stop his former slayer had at first not even been in his peripheral vision.  But when he had started thinking outside of the box her name had suddenly and rather forcefully come to the forefront of his mind.  He hadn't been completely sure about his decision, being intentionally vague to the others when he had abruptly left the Hyperion that night.  But upon locking gazes with her he knew that his appraisal of the situation had been correct.  During the short talk, that was arguably one of the longest if not the longest conversation that he'd ever had with Faith where she actually spoke back in something more than short angry grunts of telling him where to go, he had kept his gaze locked onto hers for fear that if he looked elsewhere he'd lose his concentration, and quite possibly his nerve.  After the defeat of the Beast he had been about ready to rush into the bathroom when the sound of the crumbling wall meeting with her fists had come resoundingly through the walls of his apartment but he had steadied himself and waited, coming up with the perfect quip to try to help her calm down.  It hadn't worked very well but when she had left with Willow to come to Sunnydale Wesley had found himself wishing that she could have stayed in the Hyperion and continued the fight.  Maybe it was his fear of the coming battles and how nearly they had come to losing this one.  Maybe it was the fear of being blamed for the whole situation.  Or maybe it was something else entirely, something that he hadn't expected in the least to come his way but had never had to much luck in acknowledging it when he found it.  Those thoughts tormented him as slumber overtook him once more, affording him only the gesture of pulling his free arm around the rogue slayer, no his slayer once more, and lazily running a rough thumb across her silky soft cheek.

*              *                             *                            *                         *                          *

"Buffy…," Angel choked out the word almost more in astonishment than happiness to see his former lover.  

"Angel…," Buffy said again, this time smiling a bit more and shrugging her shoulders before she stopped, steadied herself and looked up.  "We need your help…we can't go ho…to Sunnydale right now and we…," Buffy added with a nervous and patient tone to her voice that made Angel instantly suspicious, if seeing her standing beside his grandchilde and the smell that permeated the two wasn't enough.

"Need a place to stay since those bastards kicked you out," Angel finished Buffy's thought with a very serious frown on his face as he sat back down.

"So you've been to casa de mutiny eh Peaches…they give you a warm welcome," Spike asked with an impish smile on his face as he pulled a hand out of one of his pockets and reached up to scratch behind his ear.

"Well if you consider getting jumped by a Shaft wannabe and a bunch of girls then no…they didn't," Angel replied with a restrained expression of anger on his face as he tried to stay seated rather than jump up and demand to know why Spike and Buffy smelled like they had bathed in each other.

"Was…was everyone there…I mean they're all okay right…," Buffy stammered out her question with a concerned look on her face as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and turned her head away.

"For the moment…now which one of you is going to explain to me why you both smell like you…," Angel started to say as he shrugged his shoulders before he looked up and glared a hole through Spike.

"Is there somewhere where we can talk…in private…to much has happened and…," Buffy replied with a nervous smile on her face before Angel nodded his head and lead her out of the board room and back to his office.  Before leaving, and after Angel had left the room, Buffy turned back to Spike and kissed him gently before adding, "Don't worry, I'll tell him everything…but don't worry, no matter what Angel says or does I know who I'll be with tonight and forevermore…you."  

"Hey now…what are you two staring at," Spike growled with an angry and frustrated frown on his face as he crossed his arms and glared at Gunn and Fred.

"Nothing…," The two answered in perfect unison with confused and worried looks on their faces as Fred slowly pushed her chair away from Spike while Gunn prepared to fight if the need arose.

*                          *                          *                            *                    *                         *

She awoke to an odd occurrence, that of still being in the same bed with the same man next to her as had been there the night before.  Sure she had slept with men before and had overslept and woken up beside them.  But this time was different, for she hadn't slept with her former watcher but instead only offered him comfort, an odd thing for her to do.  After the others had left them alone she had started to pull away but found that for some strange reason she felt that she had to remain at his side.  She guessed that he had awoken sometime during either the night or early morning hours as she didn't remember his good arm being wrapped protectively around her.  To her amazement the position that she found herself in didn't automatically make her want to flee for the hills upon its realization.  Instead she felt oddly warm and content, almost happy, and for the first time in a long time the nightmares that had plagued her first in prison and then during the nights spent before Buffy had left had mysteriously not presented themselves.  When she lifted her head to get a better look around she grimaced at the sickly taste of blood on her lips, a taste that she puzzled over as none of her current injuries were of the possibility of bleeding. Puzzled she looked down and her heart nearly stopped at the sight.  Sometime during the night Wesley's wounds had bleed through the bandages and she must have moved her head just enough that the blood that she tasted on her lips was his.  Disgusted and frightened for what the blood meant Faith quickly extricated herself from Wesley's grasp while disturbing him as little as possible.  Rushing out of the room and to the bathroom Faith angrily shoved Vi aside as the potential slayer was on her way to brush her teeth after lunch and slammed the door shut.  Ignoring Vi's surprised and angered questions Faith hurriedly turned the water on and brushed the blood from her lips before throwing the door back open and rushing to the top of the stairs before shouting for Giles.

*                      *                           *                                  *                     *                         *

For the next hour Buffy and Angel spoke in his office while Spike sat slumped in Angel's chair in the boardroom, acting as if he could care less.  However Fred had been watching him from the time that he had first stepped foot into the room and she could tell by the look in his eyes that the wait was pure torture.  Several times during the hour large bangs could be heard coming from the office, prompting Gunn to guess that the sounds must have been caused by something large striking the wall, most likely one of the chairs in Angel's office.  With each bang Fred noticed that Spike would flinch a bit and start to appear more like a scared child than a fearsome vampire.  Gunn and Fred had tried to ask Spike questions but he had only grunted in reply that he didn't feel like answering any questions.  

"Spike…Angel wants to see you…and please don't try to kill each other," Buffy said softly with a worried look on her face as she walked back into the board room and laid a hand on Spike's shoulder.

"Everything go okay pet," Spike asked with a worried look of his own as he leapt up out of his chair and laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"Yeah…he wasn't exactly overjoyed with what I had to tell him but…he's trying…he said that he wanted to go over some things with you…so please…don't do anything stupid…," Buffy replied softly with a look of innocence on her face as she looked deep into Spike's eyes and leaned in a bit.

"Of course luv…Peaches and I will have our little talk and then you and I can get some sleep," Spike whispered back with an odd smile on his face before he leaned in close, gave Buffy a gentle kiss, and left the room.  Spike didn't initially see Angel when he slipped into his office and shut the door behind him.  True all of the lights were out in the office but with his vampire abilities that wasn't a problem.

"How could you…," Angel's voice asked out of the darkness as if an unveiled threat before Spike caught sight of the his grandsire sitting behind his desk.

"How could I what...," Spike started to ask with a slightly confused look on his face before Angel bolted up out of the chair and grabbed Spike by the throat, slamming him into the wall behind him.

"How could you do that to her…you said that you loved her and you try to…," Angel growled loudly with a pissed off scowl on his face before he slipped his game face on and uttered a very low vampiric growl.

"I don't know…never planned…on going that far…things…got out of hand…," Spike gasped out in between Angel's attempts to choke the proverbial life out of him before Angel cut in with another question.

"How convenient for you then…getting your soul and everything…what'd you do Spike, go out and have a ball after trying to rape the woman that you claimed to love…then make a deal with the devil to get your soul so that she'd forgive you," Angel shouted his question straight into Spike's face as he continued to squeeze Spike's throat and hold him firmly up against the wall.  

"Are you that thick headed…I hated myself for what I did…I still do…the soul makes sure of that…not that I need it to do that…but you're right about one thing…I did make a deal to get my soul…but I never…asked for her…to forgive me…she did that on…her own," Spike answered in short gasps before he managed to push Angel away and gently rub the bruises on his neck.

"You expect me to believe that…Buffy just forgave you because you got your soul…please…she…," Angel laughed out with a sinister scowl on his face as he slowly made his way back to his desk and slightly leaned on it.

"She forgave you quickly enough after you killed that teacher, the one that Rupert was in love with…what was her name again…Jenny something or other," Spike spat back out with a defiant edge to his voice as he glared back at Angel.

"Calendar…Jenny Calendar, and don't bring that up, that was different…I couldn't be held responsible for…," Angel started to growl back before Spike perked up like a child that suddenly knew the answer to a question.

"Can't be held responsible…oh that's rich Angel…as much as you try and deny it Angelus is still in there, even with your soul, every bit as much as William the Bloody is still in me right now, the only difference between you with a soul and without one is that when you have a soul you know what you're doing is wrong and it bothers you…but with me I didn't need the soul to feel like I deserved to die for what I did to Buffy…I still do…feel that way, but for some reason that I can only begin to fathom she actually loves me…for the first time in my life I actually have someone that loves me…and I'm not about to let you or anyone else take that away," Spike shot back in a longwinded reply as he angrily paced around Angel's office and every once in a while glared over at his grandsire.

"What if you're wrong Spike…what then…," Angel asked softly while glaring daggers through his obstinate grandchilde.

"Then…well then…," Spike started to reply with a very nervous look on his face before his words caught in his throat as a familiar tingle ran up the back of his neck.

"He's not wrong Angel, I do love him…maybe not in the exact same way that I loved you but it is still love, enough for me anyway," Buffy stated with a very matter of fact look on her face as she stood in the doorway of Angel's office, arms crossed and hips slightly cocked to one side.

*                          *                            *                     *                         *                        *

"Where do you think she is…," Willow asked with a sad pout on her face as she pulled her knees up under her chin and stared out across Buffy's backyard.

"Who knows Will…," Xander replied softly with a worried look on his face as he slowly took a seat beside Willow and clasped his hands together.

"Do you think we…did the right thing…," Willow mumbled with a hesitant tone to her voice as she only half looked over at her best friend.

"I thought so originally…but now…I don't know Will, I just don't know…," Xander solemnly stated his reply as a cool breeze picked up and wafted a few leaves across the lawn.

"Me either…," Willow nearly choked out before her voice escaped her and tears filled her eyes.

"Hey now…who said that you could cry…don't worry we'll find her and hopefully someday we'll all look back at his and laugh…," Xander stated with a lying look on his face as Willow only responded by curling up into a smaller ball than before.

"What are we going to do…Faith's barely up on her feet…," Willow started to ask with a worried look on her face before she was interrupted by the sounds of sneakers on the deck behind them.

"And we got our asses kicked twice in one day…," Kennedy said with a very depressed frown on her face as she slid down beside Willow and wrapped her arms comfortingly around her girlfriend.

"We're in trouble…aren't we," A very meek Vi asked with a nervous look on her face as she kept her arms tight to her sides and stared at her toes.

"Uh huh…trouble with a capital trouble…," Xander replied with a forcibly confidant smile on his face as he tried to not scare the skittish potential to much, but failed miserably.

"I knew it…we're all going to die…," Vi mumbled softly with a panicked expression on her face as she scurried in between Willow and Xander and finally stopped out underneath Spike's tree.  

"We're not all going to die…most…but not all," Xander joked softly again, in an attempt to soothe Vi's overly frayed nerves.

"Maybe I should call Fred, I think that I trust her enough to tell me if they know where Buffy is without letting Angel know that it's me," Willow offered with a fearful look of optimism on her face as she looked over to Xander.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea Willow, if Angel's told her what happened then she might not want to even talk to you," Xander replied softly with a hesitant look of hope on his face as he tried to stay calm and not get his hopes up.

"It doesn't matter, we're running out of ideas here…," Faith stated with a deadly serious edge to her voice as she slowly walked, barefoot, out onto the deck and stopped a few feet behind Xander and Willow.

"How's Wesley…," Willow asked with a worried look on her face as she wiped away a tear and tried to keep from shivering, even though it was the middle of the day.

"He's…well he's…Wesley…Giles and Robin have done all that they can for him…he needs to get to a real hospital…," Faith answered with an odd shiver of her own as she jammed her hands deep into her pockets and hung her head.

"Hey…you okay Faith…," Xander asked with suddenly a very worried feeling in the pit of his stomach as the formerly tough as nails rogue slayer suddenly reminded him a great deal of Buffy after her first full encounter with one of the ubervamps.  

"Sure…of course…I'd better get back inside and check on Wesley…if he wakes up and doesn't know where he is there could trouble…he'll want to see a calming…I mean soothing…I mean familiar face…fuck," Faith grumbled with an eerie stutter to her voice before she turned around on her heel and rushed back into the house.

"Was it me or was that just totally wiggy," Xander asked with a startled gasp as he looked back and forth between the empty doorway and Willow.

"She kinda looked like she was going to cry…can she cry…," Vi stammered out softly with a terrified look on her face as she wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection and looked desperately towards Willow and Xander for an answer.

"Of course Vi…Faith just isn't one to show her emotions to…I'm going to call Fred," Willow started to reassure Vi with a kind smile on her face before she frowned suddenly and awkwardly stood up before rushing back into the house.

"Yep…trouble with a capital trouble…," Xander muttered softly under his breath with a very sarcastic tone to his voice before he stood up and sulked off back into the house, leaving Kennedy on the steps and a scared Vi trembling near the tree.

END OF CHAPTER 5


	6. Drug Induced Visions And Resurections

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 6-DRUG INDUCED VISIONS AND RESURECTIONS **

A bright light brought him back.  His first recollections of that moment would be staring up at a bright light trained on him. Giles had positioned the light so as to get a better look at the gashes on his arm and side.  The first blurry images that registered in his mind were of a pair of young girls staring at him oddly.  Both looked to be no older than fifteen and neither one looked as if they'd slept in a good long while.  

"Wait…he's up…we'd better get Mr. Giles," Amanda whispered softly with a nervous look of panic on her face before she jumped up out of her chair and took off out of the room.

"Damn…," Wesley growled loudly in pain as he tried to sit up but had to stop when the action sent lighting bolts of pain throughout his body.

"Whoa…easy…Mr. Giles said that you weren't supposed to move very much," Vi said softly with a scared look on her face, before she hunkered down in her chair and looked away.  

"I'm…sorry…if I startled you," Wesley weakly stated with a very uncomfortable grimace on his face as he brought his good arm overtop of his eyes to block out the blinding sunlight that streamed in through the hole in between the curtains.

"Are you…okay," Vi asked softly as she seemed to halt, if only briefly, her retreat down into her chair.

"I think I'll live…," Wesley remarked with a meager smile etched on his face before he kept his hand positioned correctly just above his eyes and was about to turn his gaze to Vi when Giles, flanked by Robin and Faith with Xander and Willow bringing up the rear hurried into the room.

"How do you feel," Giles asked softly with a concerned expression on his face as he walked over to the side of the bed.

"Like I've been run over by a herd of elephants…but I think I'll make it," Wesley joked with a quick grin on his face before a quick breath sent shivers of pain throughout his chest.

"Good…because I need to ask you a few questions, do you remember what attacked you," Giles smiled as he nodded his relief at Wesley's words before he launched into his first question.

"No…it all happened to fast, but whatever attacked me was strong…if I hadn't been armed I…," Wesley started to reply with a confused and tired look on his face before he trailed off as he turned to stare out of the window.

"I have a bad feeling that I know what attacked you Wesley…but that can wait until later…," Giles said softly with a concerned frown on his face as he turned back to the group behind him.

"Why are you here," Robin blurted out with an almost accusing tone to his voice, a tone that caught Faith off guard as had the two been alone she would have slapped him upside the head, but with the circumstances as they were she was more worried about Wesley's health.

"I found a passage in one of my books, it pertains to a weapon that is…and I quote…her alone to wield, the passage goes on to say that the weapon is the only hope in defeating the uttermost evil, but at the moment I haven't a clue as to what the weapon looks like or where to find it, only that it's a good bet that it's located somewhere nearby…here on the hellmouth," Wesley replied with a very serious look on his face as he tried to sit up but the pain in his head quickly told him otherwise.

"Which book is it…," Robin asked again quickly, caring more that they obtained the information then that Wesley was available to help them interpret it.

"In a hurry are we…I came to give the information to Buffy, so if you'd…," Wesley joked with a surprised and slightly alarmed look on his face before he again trailed off, letting his silence speak volumes before Willow interrupted him.

"She's not here…a few days ago we put it to a vote and we put Faith in charge…Buffy…left…with Spike, we haven't seen either of them since…," Willow softly stammered out, as if she were confessing to a murder.  Wesley remained silent for a few moments before his course of action became clear. 

"Then if Faith is in charge I want to speak to her alone…if I could," Wesley stated with a soft edge to his voice, yet an edge that was also full of purpose, as he regarded the group assembled with a perplexed look on his face, though his fully gaze only bore down on Faith, who squirmed uncomfortably under the scrutiny.  For a time it looked as if there would be an argument about whether or not to agree to what Wesley was proposing, but Faith stopped the debate before it began.

"Sure…," Faith quipped, a little too quickly for Robin and Giles' tastes, before she seemingly glared everyone else out of the room.

"Thank you," Wesley breathed with a pained frown on his face after Willow had left and shut the door behind her.

"You're welcome…and before you start in with the what in the hell is going on here it wasn't my idea…at all, so let's move beyond that shall we…did Angel send you," Faith replied with a concerned expression on her face as she tried to calm her and Wesley's nerves down.

"Angel was here…," Wesley asked with a surprised look on his face as he slowly made his way to sitting up and looked over at Faith, who approached him very slowly, as if he were going to explode any second.

"Long story short he came…made us all feel like shit and then left," Faith replied with a slightly scared look on her face as she carefully sat down on the side of the bed beside Wesley.

"Are you okay," Wesley asked softly, the honest concern clearly evident in his voice, as he slowly lifted up his good arm and placed his thumb beneath Faith's chin and brought her gaze up until it was on level with his.

"You know me Wes…five by five…," Faith replied meekly with a look of fake bravado on her face as she tried to sound confidant.

"Fuck five by five Faith, don't lie to me, I could see it in your eyes after you fought the Beast in LA, you might not want to admit it but you're scared, scared out of your mind and you're to damn proud to ask for help," Wesley spat out with a very impatient and fed up scowl on his face as he made sure that Faith didn't look away and that their gazes stayed locked onto one another's.  

"Okay…you want the truth Wesley…fine…you deserve it…I don't have a clue what I'm doing here, I'm no leader, somehow they all got the idea that just because I'm a slayer I'm a leader…Buffy's the one to put in charge, I've thought about just running away like I used to but I get as far as the backyard before I change my mind and come back inside," Faith added with an impatient and scared look on her face before she pulled away from Wesley's grasp and walked over to the window.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Faith, not everyone's cut out to be a leader, I myself have been a leader…and completely and royally fucked it up, at least until I broke you out of prison, ever since then things have been going better, as odd a notion as that seems, if I didn't know better I'd think that you were my good luck charm," Wesley said with an almost consoling tone to his voice as he turned his head and looked over at Faith, who only half glanced back at him.

"Heh…right, a good luck charm that ties you to a chair and tortures you for a few hours until Angel stepped in…fuck this I'm out of here," Faith replied softly with a worried edge to her voice before she growled the last bit and stormed out of the room.

*                           *                             *                        *                     *                       *

"So you see, I run the science department, Charles runs the legal department, Wesley runs the deciphering, decoding, and artifacts division, Lorne runs the entertainment division and Angel…well he basically runs the entire show, understand," Fred said with a very proud look on her face as she led the other lithe brunette around the offices of Wolfram and Hart.

"I think so…but what am I supposed to do," The young girl asked with a timid tenor in her voice as she stare wide eyed out over the lobby.

"You…why you're our good luck charm sugarplum," Lorne exclaimed with an energetic smile on his face and wave of his hand as he walked towards the railing.  Molly instinctively flinched as Lorne neared but stayed in her place beside Fred, her gaze locked onto the green empath demon nearby.  

"S…sorry," Molly mumbled with an embarrassed expression on her face as she turned away and swept her gaze over the lobby again.

"For what honey…," Lorne asked, a bit perplexed, as he furrowed his brows and shared a confused look with Fred, who only shrugged her shoulders in reply.

"I shouldn't have stared at you, me mum told me that it's not polite to stare…," Molly replied with an uneasy look on her face as she tore her gaze away from the goings on in the lobby to look back up at Lorne.

"Stare all you want my little chickadee, I'm used to it, it kind of goes with the territory when one has horns and a complexion like mine," Lorne added with a sincere smile on his face before a startled gasp from behind caught them all off guard as the trio spun around.

"Molly," Buffy gasped out softly with a startled expression on her face as she paled a bit and desperately searched for the right words to say.

"Buffy…I'm so glad that you're okay," Molly nearly shrieked out with relief before she rushed forward and enveloped the slayer in a bear hug, tears coming to her eyes.  

"M…me to…but how…," Buffy stammered out with a thoroughly confused, but clearly relieved look on her face as she tried to hold back tears of her own before Spike stepped out of a nearby elevator and did a double take as he thought that he recognized Molly.

"Bloody…," Spike started to say with an unsure frown on his face before Molly broke away enough from Buffy to see Spike and instantly rushed to him and threw her arms around him in a tight bear hug.  "Uh…nice to see you to pet…," Spike added with an overwhelmed look of confusion on his face as he looked to first Buffy and then Fred and Lorne for answers.

"Molly…what are you doing here…why aren't you…," Buffy asked with a slightly worried look on her face as she fidgeted with her hands a bit before shoving them into the pockets of her jeans.

"In a bloody hospital bed back in Sunnydale…well I would still be there if they hadn't moved all of the patients out of Sunnydale when they did," Molly started to reply with a relieved smile on her face as she let go of Spike and turned back to Buffy.

"And when one of our contacts that worked at the hospital that Molly was brought to looked at her blood work and figured out that she was a potential slayer she had a cleric rush over and heal young Molly here," Lorne finished Molly's answer with a content smile on his face as he looked back and forth between Buffy and Spike, hoping that the two understood everything that he was saying.

"So why aren't you back in Sunnydale with the others…I'd think that…," Buffy started to ask with a scared look on her face before her shoulders shook every so slightly, an even that didn't go entirely unnoticed, as Spike walked over and slipped a supportive arm around her shoulders.

"What the slayer means is that why aren't you back at the fort with the other mutineers," Spike asked with a concerned edge to his voice as he fleshed out Buffy's question.

"Winifred told me about that…I can't believe that they did that…when Mr. Giles came to get me all that he could talk about was how safe I'd be once we got to your house and how you'd know what to do…," Molly replied with a nervous frown on her face as she crossed her arms and stared over at Buffy and Spike.  

"Y…you mean you don't…hate me…for what happened at the vineyard," Buffy asked softly, her voice trembling ever so slightly, as she leaned into Spike.

"Of course not…it's not your fault what happened to me…I should have been quicker…you couldn't have known that it was a trap…I just wish that we would have gotten another shot at it…," Molly answered with a somber pout on her face that was only reinforced further as she stuck her bottom lip out.

"Don't we all Nibblet…don't we all…," Spike mumbled softly in agreement as he slowly nodded his head.

*                            *                            *                         *                          *                         *

After storming out of the room Faith had secluded herself up in the tree in Buffy's backyard.  While it was true that she had never been one to climb trees Faith thought that it'd be the best place to have some time to herself to think, and to avoid the stares of the potentials.  When she had first taken over their gazes had been filled with hope and promise, but after her disasterous trek into the tunnels they had begun looking at her with fear and terror in their eyes.  The worst were the looks that Willow and Xander and Anya would give her.  Try as they might she could see the doubt in their eyes, the doubt that they had made the right choice and how if ever they could go about rectifying things after the battle with the First was over.  She couldn't recall exactly how long she had been reclining back in the tree but frowned sadly as she watched the sun begin its trek beneath the horizon for the night.  She debated on whether or not to climb down and go back inside but the thought of everyone asking her what their next move was caused her to stay up in the tree, even when the light rain began to fall.  Instead she relished in the sensation of the bitterly cold water droplets contacting her skin, sending refreshing chills throughout her body, telling her that this wasn't all just some weird and twisted dream.  She had almost fallen asleep in the rain when Robin stepped out of the house with Joyce's old umbrella and walked slowly towards the tree.

"Are you a squirrel now," Robin asked softly with a slightly joking hint to his voice as he smiled and tilted his gaze up the tree.

"I just needed some time by myself to think…," Faith replied more to the wind than anyone in particular as she stared up into the early evening sky and let the soft rain soak her through and through.

"Well come inside before you catch a cold…Giles wants to talk to you…," Robin reported with a concerned frown on his face as he started to turn around back towards the house.

"Okay…I'll be there in a minute…but tell him that I'm going to have to change first," Faith said with a sad frown on her face as she reluctantly leapt out of the tree and walked across the soft mud towards the house, smiling inwardly at the feeling of the mud squishing in between her toes.  

"I'll do that…but make it quick, Rupert did seem pretty worried about something," Robin called after Faith as she cleaned her feet off on the mat in front of the door and headed inside.  

She passed through the kitchen without even glancing over at Willow and Giles seated at the kitchen table as she grabbed some of her clothes and a towel from the bathroom and headed towards what had been Buffy's room.  When she walked in she found Vi asleep in the chair beside the bed and Wesley snoring softly with a couple of heavy blankets pulled up almost to his neck.  Faith quickly roused Vi and ushered the potential out of the room before she smiled back at Wesley as she shut the door.  She slowly walked back towards the bed while using the towel to wipe her face and arms off before she peeled off her soaking wet shirt and laid it on the chair that Vi had just vacated.  She thought about taking a shower but stopped when she heard one of the potentials rush inside and slam the door shut and other potentials growls of frustration.  

"Guess I'll just have to change in here Wes…now don't peek, you wouldn't want to ruin that nice guy image that you've got going for you…," Faith mused with an impish smile on her face as she regarded Wesley before she noticed the pill bottles on the nightstand and knelt down in front of them.  "What the fuck…these things are way to powerful for…what the hell is Giles thinking…guess I'll just have to bring this up when I talk to him," Faith wondered aloud with a pessimistic scowl on her face before she stood up and slipped out of the rest of her clothes, throwing them into an ever growing pile on the chair beside the bed.  She had put on a new bra and thong and had just pulled her jeans up, but hadn't buttoned them yet when an odd noise startled her.  Instantly she crouched down into a defensive position and swept her gaze quickly around the room, looking for the source of the noise.  As she continued to listen she followed the noise back towards first the bed and then Wesley.  Taking great care not to wake Wesley Faith crept up on the bed and slowly pulled back the covers.  Having done this Faith caught sight of something shaking in Wesley's pocket.  Pulling it out Faith let out a sigh of relief as it was only Wesley's pager that had gone off, vibrating loudly.  Sighing lightly Faith turned it around and read the message on the small screen, groaning at the sight of Angel's name and that it was urgent.  She was just about to shut it off and slip the pager into one of her pockets when one of Wesley's eyes opened into a slit.

"F…Faith…what are you," Wesley mumbled softly as he tried to focus his blurry vision on Faith while lifting his head up.

"Just making sure that you haven't bleed through the bandages again…," Faith lied back in her reply as she smiled her best honest smile and hope that would suffice.

"Willow changed them a few minutes ago…so tell me another one…," Wesley joked softly with a cheesy smirk on his face as he started to sit up, getting up high enough to rest on his right elbow before Faith acted.

"Whoa now Wes…Giles said that you're supposed to stay on your back," Faith said with a serious look on her face as she swung one leg over Wesley and lightly tried to push him back down, straddling him in the process.  

"I thought that was you…," Wesley quipped with a daring look in his eye that Faith initially regarded with a restrained look of frustration.

"Ooh…good one Wes…making fun of me is really going to get you very far…now lie down…or else," Faith chided Wesley with a hint of anger in her voice as she increased the pressure on pushing Wesley back down as she also leaned forward and got into his face, making sure that he got the point, until their foreheads almost touched.

"Are you threatening me Faith…you should know better than anyone that I don't respond well to threats…," Wesley replied with a sly grin on his face as he pushed himself back up to his former position of resting on his right elbow and stared Faith directly in the eye.

"And you should know Wes…that I don't either…so don't push me…," Faith whispered back softly in a thinly veiled threat as she glared back at Wesley.

"And what if I do…," Wesley whispered back softly as he inched closer to Faith, with neither one noticing that Faith had leaned down farther and Wesley's right hand had slipped up high enough so that his thumb softly washed across her cheek and that she was now in fact keeping him sitting up instead of him relying on leaning on his elbows.

"Then I'm just going to have to…," Faith started to growl back with an angry frown on her face before Wesley took a chance and pulled Faith closer to him until their lips met somewhere in the middle.  The kiss lasted a few mere seconds before Faith pulled away.  "Wes what the fuck do you think…," Faith started to whisper back before she found her lips back up against Wesley's, but this time it was her lips that were pressed to his.  As the kiss slowly began to deepen neither Wesley nor Faith noticed that the doorknob slowly began to turn before the door soundlessly opened and someone stepped inside.

"Faith…what…," Robin exclaimed with a very taken by surprise and overwhelmed expression on his face as he stumbled back a step before Faith and Wesley jolted apart, Faith with a startled look of fear on her face and Wesley with a hard groan as Faith released her hold on him and the collision of his body and the bed jolted his injured shoulder and side.

"Robin…wait…don't…fuck…," Faith shouted as she tried to get out a plausible explanation of why she'd be straddling Wesley on the bed, shirtless with bare feet, her hair all wet and draped suggestively over her face, bare feet, and jeans with her underwear showing and the top button undone.  She scrambled off of the bed in an attempt to catch Robin as he backed quickly out of the room and took of down the hallway but ended up only falling off of the bed, not initially hearing Wesley's groan of pain as she had used his injured shoulder to push off of to get out of the bed quicker.

*                           *                               *                      *                      *                        *

"So that's what Caleb was protecting at the vineyard," Molly asked with a cocked eyebrow and her face scrunched up in scrutiny as she leaned across the table and stared at the scythe.  

"Yep…he was really intent on keeping me from getting it…that is until the First told him to let me go…if it hadn't I wouldn't have gotten there in time to save Faith and Kennedy and the others from those three ubervamps," Buffy answered softly as she slowly paced around the table, sipping on her glass of water in odd intervals.

"Gunn…do we have anything on this Caleb guy…full name, birthday, credit history…anything," Angel asked with a concerned frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair at the head of the conference table and stared up at the ceiling.

"I've got my best people on it…we'll have everything on him in less than an hour…we'd probably have it to you sooner if Wesley were here…any luck," Gunn replied with a nervous frown on his face as he shuffled through a few folders on the table in front of him and glanced over at Fred.

"Nothing yet…I left a message on his pager but for some reason he hasn't called back yet, I hope nothing bad's happened to him…," Fred added with a worried and helpless look on her face as she shook her head in dismay and stared at her phone.

"We don't have the time to worry…Fred, send a retrieval team to Sunnydale…with full extraction clearances, I don't care what they have to do to find Wesley but I want him back here…sooner rather than later," Angel demanded with a very authoritative tint to his voice as he clenched his hands into fists and bore a hole straight through a slightly shocked Fred with his gaze.

"Full extraction clearances…but what if…," Fred began to ask with a timid look of fear on her face before Angel rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Just tell them not to kill any humans okay, tell them to kill everything else, I don't care what it is, if it gets in their way they have permission to terminate it, with what's happened the time to be patient and tread lightly has ended, we have the power and capabilities so we're going to use them to their fullest," Angel answered with a very serious look on his face as he stood up and turned around to face the old painting on the wall.

"What about us…," Spike asked, after having stayed silent up to that point, as he pushed off of the wall and caught up with Buffy's pacing.

"What do you mean…," Gunn asked with a slightly confused look on his face and tone to his voice as he turned and looked back over his shoulder at the pair.

"I'm not going home…I can't…at least not yet, we need…," Buffy trailed off with a nervous and sad pout on her face before she stopped walking and leaned back into Spike.

"Whatever you need Buffy…you need a house…fine…we have hundreds to choose from…Wolfram and Hart's big in the real estate market, we could probably even get you into a mansion that some famous star used to live in…that is after we replace all of the windows with windows that have been treated with the necro-tinting agent so that Spike doesn't erupt in flames…," Angel answered with a deep shrug of his shoulders before he slowly turned around and tried his best to stay calm while Spike smiled brightly and Buffy nodded her appreciation in silence.

"So what do I do…," Molly asked again, this time with a scared look on her face as she sat back down in her chair and stared meekly at Angel.

"Simple Nibblet…you come with Buffy and me, you're behind on your training…except no note taking this time okay  ," Spike answered quickly with a slightly joking tone to his words before Buffy turned to him and furrowed her brows in an unspoken question.  "When the time comes everything's going to hit the fan pet, and Molly would stand a much better chance of surviving the hell to come if she's trained properly," Spike added with a sincere look on his face before he wrapped his arms around Buffy and pulled her close.

"Can't argue with that…," Angel mumbled softly with an awkward look on his face before he pulled his coat back on and walked out of the room.

"Cool…," Molly whispered softly under her breath with an excited smile on her face as she watched Angel go.

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. It All Comes Out In The Wash

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 7-IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE ****WASH******

"What's it like…," A soft voice asked Spike as Molly slowly slid her way into the seat next to him in the board room.

"Eh Nibblet…what's what like…," Spike asked softly with only a slightly annoyed frown on his face as he had retreated back to the board room in the hope of getting some time to think, but yet the potentials question had not riled his nerves as much as he thought it would.

"You know…being a vampire and all…my watcher never really told me much about vampires other than that I was supposed to stake as many as I could before I died…if I ever got lucky enough and became the slayer," Molly replied with a nervous and scared look on her face as she reached out and poured herself a glass of water from the decanter on the table.

"Becoming the slayer isn't…lucky Molly, it's downright a bloody death sentence," Spike grumbled back softly with his reply as he tried to not let Molly's gaze catch his own.  

"But Buffy makes it look so easy…other than when she didn't fare so well against that super-vamp she…," Molly started to wonder aloud with a confused look on her face before Spike cut her off.

"You've only known Buffy for what…a few days…week's maybe, what you probably don't know is that she's been doing this, saving the world and fighting demons, for nearly a decade, she's had her ups and downs, had loves come and go, lost her mother…her life,  and after all of that she gets tossed out like yesterdays news, no Molly being a slayer isn't fun or a blessing, it's a damn curse that you should hope that you never know," Spike cut in with a very serious look on his face as he watched Molly slowly take a sip of water out of the corner of his eye.

"I never thought of it that way…guess it doesn't sound so good anymore…but you never answered by question, what's it like to be a vampire," Molly muttered with a solemn pout on her face as she held her glass tight and stared down into its mirrored depths.

"You want the honest truth pet…fine, you've earned it for not blasting Buffy like those other damn traitors…the honest truth is that it's incredibly boring being a vampire," Spike answered with an odd look on his face before he leaned back fully in his chair and propped his legs up onto the table.  Spike half expected the young potential to choke given the look of complete and utter surprise on her face after hearing his response.

"But…but vampires…I mean you have all of that power…you're immortal…," Molly stammered out as it was plainly evident to Spike that her mind was working on a much faster speed than her mouth was.

"Nothing that a stake to the heart or decapitation wouldn't fix pet…although we have a lot of power we're not as free as you think, have you ever thought about how long a day really is…the sunlit part of it I mean, as long as that bleedin sun is sitting up there in the sky I have to stay in one place unless I want to run the gambit and try not to burst into flames," Spike broke in with a soft and tender tone to his voice that he didn't realize that he'd once used when he had begun talking regularly to Dawn back in Sunnydale.

"So what did you do to pass the time," Molly asked softly , now having gotten over most of her initial fear of the dreaded William the Bloody, with an inquisitive look of interest on her face as she leaned in a bit closer to Spike.

"Oh you know…a little of this…a little of that…and I never missed an episode of Passions…," Spike replied with an almost bored look on his face before he smiled a bit as Molly's eyes widened in ecstatic shock and joy.  

"Oi…you watch Passions to…I love that show…do you think that Miguel will end up with Kay or Charity…," Molly exclaimed with a thoroughly excited look of glee on her face as she inched closer to Spike.

As Spike started to reply neither one noticed the blonde shadow standing in the doorway, watching their conversation with interest.  Buffy had caught a quick cat nap, with the scythe tightly clutched to her chest, on the couch in Angel's office before she had awoken and gone in search of Spike.  She had nearly given up searching when she had noticed a single light on in the boardroom and thought that she heard voices.  When she crept closer and recognized the voices she had softly pushed the door open just far enough so that she could hear the conversation.  When the talk had turned to Spike's favorite soap opera Buffy had to bite her lip to keep from giggling over the thought of the former big bad vampire sitting for an hour in his favorite chair and yelling at the screen.  When she had slipped into the doorway she had originally intended to tell Spike that she was tired and wanted to sleep somewhere that was a bit more comfortable than the couch in Angel's office, with him at her side.  But when she entered the doorway the sight struck a chord deep within a happier time of her memory.  The sight of the former big bad and the juvenile slayer babbling on and on about a soap opera reminded her of the times that she had watched Spike and Dawn discuss whatever was vexing either of them.

*                      *                               *                          *                          *                      *

"Damn…where is he…," Faith growled with an angry frown on her face as she walked back into the living room, while pulling her shirt on, and glared at the assembled potential slayers seated all throughout the room.

"I don't know Faith but that'll have to wait, we need to talk about what we're going to do next, with Spike and Buffy…not available I believe that our first objective is to somehow find a way to discover what the First's plans are," Giles said with a slightly dejected sigh as he sat down in the only open chair and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Good idea…but maybe we should first talk about all of the drugs that you're forcing Wesley to take, now I admit that I'm no stranger to…drugs…but not the type that you've got upstairs…do you mind telling me what…," Faith responded with a defiant and unimpressed scowl on her face as she ignored the scared and fearful looks of the potentials and the confused and shocked looks of the Scooby's as she stormed through the living room until she finally came to a stop directly in front of Giles.

"I'm sorry Faith, but I don't know what you're…," Giles started to stutter out with a shocked look of fear on his face before Robin jumped in.

"Talking about…maybe you should ask your gun wielding pathetic excuse for a former watcher upstairs…or aren't the two of you through having…," Robin added with a very angry and vindictive scowl on his face as he swept into the room before Faith turned on a dime and slammed her fist into his jaw, knocking him out with one punch.

"Don't you ever, ever…," Faith growled with a menacing glint in her eye as she waved her tightly clenched fist above Robins unconscious body while the now terrified and confused potentials looked about to bolt from the room at the first opportunity.

"Faith wait, calm down…please, there was no call for that…and you're setting a very poor example for the girls," Giles said smoothly after clearing his throat and rising back out of his chair.

"Don't tell me to calm down Giles…Will stay out of this, this doesn't concern you," Faith stated with a steadfast look of serious determination on her face as she kept her fist balled up but seemed to relax, if only ever so slightly.

"You knocked him out cold Faith, I'd say that qualifies this as concerning us all," Xander said with a timid tone to his voice as he cautiously made his way forward to pull Robin away from Faith.

"Maybe we made the wrong choice…," Amanda mumbled softly to Rhona as she kept a suspicious eye on Faith, who heard the comment and spoke out immediately.

"You're damn right you did…I never wanted this job, you all just staged a coup and put me in charge without even asking me…did any of you Benedict Arnold's ever stop to think that I never wanted to be a leader," Faith nearly shouted back at everyone in the room as she slowly swept her gaze around the room.

"Benedict who…," Vi asked with a confused frown on her face before she hunched her shoulders and tried to squeeze even further into the corner than she already was.

"She did screw up the first time out…taking us into that trap…," Kennedy questioned aloud with a deep in thought expression on her face as she slowly and cautiously took a step away from the small group that she had been at the forefront of.

"Maybe we should vote her out to…seems only fair…," Rhona added with an angry look of arrogance on her face as she crossed her arms and slowly nodded her head.

"There will be no more voting anyone out Rhona, we don't need to compound or problems, they're bad enough as they are," Giles stated with a very thinly veiled threat to everyone in the room before he slowly sat back down, all the while keeping eye contact with Faith, who looked like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.

"Is that right…oh and I guess pumping Wesley so full of drugs that he's of no threat to you was just an accident…an oversight," Faith declared her questions aloud with a defiant glower on her face as she quickly glanced around the room, almost daring someone to come and fight her.

"His wounds are serious Faith, those drugs are to keep him sedated until we can get him to a proper medical facility and nothing more, I swear to you, I would never knowingly betray him like that," Giles responded softly after clearing his throat with a grave look of concern etched upon his face before Faith let out a belly laugh.

"You swear…hah, that's rich…you know I bet that you promised Buffy that you'd never turn your back on her to…odd how that all turned out huh," Faith quipped softly in between a well placed snicker as she crossed her arms proudly in front of her chest and smiled happily.  

"I did not betray my slayer…I mean Buffy…I simply…," Giles shouted as he started to explode back up out of his seat and glare menacingly down at Faith, before being interrupted by a cough from the hallway.

"You simply thought that you were doing the right thing under the circumstances…isn't that right Rupert, but trust me on this one, after a little time has gone by you'll come to hate yourself for what you've done after you realize that you did indeed turn your back on your slayer, as I once turned my back on Faith…I was punished for my indiscretions…I pray that you possess the foresight to repair the damage that you have caused before some horrendous tragedy befalls you," A very wobbly Wesley choked out with a pained grimace on his face, as the blood had seeped through the bandages again, while he stood shirtless in the doorway to the living room, leaning on the doorway for support.  All of the assembled potentials gave a collective gasp of shock before soft murmuring broke out amongst them.

"Wesley," Faith shouted, nearly in a shriek, as she rushed to his side and wrapped one arm around his waist and awkwardly helped him to the nearest seat, one that a nervous potential leapt out of like she had been goosed.

"I'm okay…," Wesley replied softly with a pained grimace on his face as he wiped the sweat out of his eyes.

"What are you doing out of bed," A very worried Willow asked as she started to rush forward but shrunk away quickly when Faith cast an angry glare her way.

"Hoping to set the record straight…how am I doing…," Wesley stated weakly with a meager smile on his face, one that Faith for the life of her couldn't help but copy, as he tried his best to sit still in the chair, but every breath in and out tore his chest up with jagged barbs of pain.

"That remains to be seen…perhaps it would be best if you went back upstairs and lie down, you look a little pale," Giles said with a nervous and concerned look on his face as he stood up and gazed down at his former replacement.

"Someone should change his bandages to, the blood has seeped through them again," Willow added with a pale frown on her face before Kennedy walked forward and helped Faith take Wesley back upstairs.

*                             *                      *                        *                       *                        *

"Damn…he's not answering…I don't like this, something must have gone wrong," Angel growled with a combined angry and subtly concerned lean to his voice as he set the receiver down and turned to look up at Gunn.

"Maybe he turned it off…or maybe he…," Gunn started to offer up with an optimistic smile on his face before a nervous Fred cut in.

"Or maybe he's unconscious…or to badly injured to even pick up a phone and…," Fred interjected with a nervous and worried look on her face before Lorne turned around in his chair and cut her off with a groan.

"Alright already my little sugarplum, we get the point…how about instead of the four of us sitting in the dark and dingy office like Stonehenge maybe someone should actually go so Sunnydale and…," Lorne stated with a  bored out of his mind frown on his face as he swirled the remaining ice cubes around in his drink.

"And find him and bring him back here, Wesley will know something about the weapon that Buffy and Spike brought with them, besides I'd rather have him be researching it than one of the techies in R & D, no offense Fred," Angel finished Lorne's statement with one of his own before he smiled meekly in Fred's direction.

"None taken," Fred stammered out softly with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face before she resumed scanning the latest printout that Knox had given her a few minutes earlier.

"Okay so…Fred, I want you to take a team to Sunnydale and find Wesley and bring him back here on the double, take a medical team with you so that if anything has happened to Wesley you can help, Gunn I want you to find Buffy and…Spike a house here in Los Angeles, preferably one with the necro-tinted windows, a big lawn, and plenty of security, Buffy came to me to be safe and I'll be damned if anyone thinks that…," Angel commanded with a serious glare on his face as he stared, as he often did, straight ahead in between Gunn and Fred's heads into empty space.

"And what should I do…oh glowery and unhappy one," Lorne asked with a half amused smirk on his face as he got up out of his chair and walked towards Angel's desk.

"Lorne, get in touch with all of your contacts, human and demon, I don't care what you have to do but I want you to make sure that not a single newspaper, tv show, radio, or internet site lets out about what's really going on in Sunnydale, we have to keep this under wraps until we can figure out what to do," Angel added with a very intense look of concentration on his face before he lifted his head up and turned his attention fully to Lorne, who squirmed under the attention.

"Right chief, I'll get on it right away," Lorne replied with a smile and mock salute before he shrugged his shoulders and smiled meekly in response to the angry glare that Angel cast his way before scurrying out of the office.

"Don't worry Angel, I'll find the perfect house for Spike and Buffy before sundown," Gunn added with a confident smile on his face before he got up, adjusted his tie, and followed Lorne out of the office.

"I'll find him Angel, I will…but what should I do if I have to go back to Buffy's house…they didn't seem to welcome you very well and…," Fred asked meekly with a scared smile on her face as she got up out of her chair and collected her files.

"If you have to go there then collect the rest of Buffy's things and if he's there Wesley to, whatever shape he's in and bring it all back here, just whatever you do don't tell any of them that Buffy and Spike are here, they kicked them out so I want them to continue to wonder if she's safe or not," Angel answered with an almost threatening edge to his voice as he slowly rose up out of his chair and leaned lightly on his desk.

"Okay…," Fred replied softly, almost in a whisper, before she turned around and hurried out of Angel's office.

*                          *                             *                          *                         *                      *

"So what happened to him," Kennedy asked softly as she helped Faith keep the gauze in place while the two wrapped a bandage around Wesley's wounded shoulder. Wesley had long since succumbed to his fatigue and slipped back into sleep.

"You mean before or after the ubervamp nearly ripped his arm off," Faith joked with an unhappy smile on her face as she held the end of the bandage in place with one hand and reached for some tape with the other.

"Yeah…Willow told me about what he was like back when he first came to Sunnydale, but I can't see how he could go from that to…to…well to this," Kennedy replied with a nervous and unsure look on her face as she struggled to find the right words for her question.

"Life happened to him Kennedy, like it happened to me…except I didn't get blown up, tortured nearly to death by my slayer, or shot, all I got was a fucking knife wound to the gut and a coma…Wesley's been through hell…a lot of it because of me…and no matter how much I want to…," Faith answered with an almost far away look on her face as if she were staring straight through Wesley's body and down to the goings on in the living room below.

"Man he's had it rough…God if I…wait a minute…did you say torture…you didn't…," Kennedy started to mumble out sadly before the realization of Faith's words struck her brain and an active thought commenced.  Kennedy turned her head and intensely stared at the slayer beside her, while Faith refused to meet the potentials gaze and instead kept her gaze locked onto an old scar on Wesley's shoulder.  Moments later Faith slowly and rigidly nodded her head before answering Kennedy's question before she could even ask it.

"You heard right Kennedy, I tortured Wesley…Wolfram and Hart paid me to kill Angel, and in the process beating the shit out of Wesley was an added bonus…but ever since that night there have been days that I can't even look in the mirror because I'm afraid that I'll see those eyes…his eyes…staring back out at me, pleading for me to stop, worried about his own death, I'm afraid that no matter what I do with the rest of my life my past will continue to haunt me throughout, wrenching me from having any chance of a semi normal life or ever being happy…," Faith said slowly and deliberately with an almost emotionless frown on her face as she slowly ran her hand over a few of the scars that she remembered giving Wesley and a few that she hadn't.  

"Oh my…," Kennedy gasped out with a shocked and horrified look on her face as she nearly fell back out of her chair before Faith shot out her other hand and grabbed the potentials arm, squeezing hard until a pained look crossed Kennedy's face.

"That's only the half of the horrible things that I've done in my life…pretty much every dirty and demeaning word for a slayer, ally, friend, woman…fit me in one way or another…in the end I'm a lost soul, one that doesn't deserve anyone to even attempt to save, but for some ungodly reason Angel and Wesley have tried…I'm just not sure what I want anymore…it was all so easy in prison…you know…you breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll kill you…," Faith growled out with an angry edge to her voice at first before her tone softened and she slowly let go of Kennedy's arm, with neither noticing Wesley's right hand slowly slip over Faith's hand on his stomach as Kennedy grimly nodded her answer.

END OF CHAPTER 7


	8. A Line In The Sand

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 8-A LINE IN THE SAND**

It was everything that she had ever dreamed about.  Gunn hadn't overstepped his bounds in his description of the property.  Hidden in amongst the rolling hills and spots of forest sat what by the moonlight looked to Buffy like her dream house.  It was almost as if she were in a dream, one that she definitely did not want to wake up from.  Spike tried to find the voice to let out a snide remark, if only for posterity's sake, but gave up as the large iron gates slowly swung open in front of their car.  The car wound its way up the long driveway before finally coming to a stop at the foot of large set of stone steps that led up to the front doors of the mansion.  Molly was the first out of the car and up the steps before either Buffy or Spike even left their seats. Rolling his eyes at his fellow Brits enthusiasm Spike followed Buffy out of the car and slowly up the steps.  Behind them followed the pair of assistants that Angel had bade go along and make sure that all of Buffy, Molly, and yes even Spike's needs were met to the fullest.

"I take it from the smiles on your faces and stars in your eyes that you like it," Michael, the assistant sent along to cater to Spike's needs, asked with an optimistic smile on his face as he walked past Buffy and Spike and stopped at the front doors, pulling a large key ring out of his pocket.

"It'll do…," Spike replied coolly with a bored look on his face before he turned his face away from Michael and couldn't help but break out in an excited grin.

"Remember if there's anything that you need…anything at all, just tell us and we'll get it for you before you're aware that you even asked for it," Tammy, the assistant sent along to cater to Buffy and Molly's needs, interjected with a readily present nervous frown on her face before she smiled a fake smile and followed Michael into the mansion after he unlocked the door and pushed the heavy doors open.

"Don't worry we will," Molly exclaimed with a delighted smile on her face before she hurried inside and tore up the stairs.

"No wait Molly…," Buffy started to shout after the excited teenager before she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Better to just let her go pet, otherwise she'd be trying to sneak off every five seconds…besides if she gets lost I'll find her, one advantage of having the man of the house being a vampire," Spike added with an almost bored frown on his face before the edges of his mouth curled up into his familiar smirk that he got when he knew that he was right.

"Fine…but just so you know…oh man of the house…we shouldn't let her get to far away, I'm not going to feel completely comfortable about any of this until I've been over this place with a fine toothed comb," Buffy stated with a nervous shrug of her shoulders as she set her jaw and glared at Spike.

"I assure you Miss Summers, this house is exactly as it appears before you, we had teams picking this place apart all last year taking out listening and spying device that they could find, mystical and otherwise," Tammy interjected with a hopefully helpful and reassuring smile on her face as she shut the front doors and handed Buffy the dark black briefcase that contained the scythe.

"And we're just supposed to trust you that those teams took out every single spying device that they found…I find that…," Buffy started to ask with an unconvinced frown on her face before Michael jumped in.

"Mr. Angel said that if they left even a single listening or spying device in this house then he'd…fire…them all, the last guy that he fired ended up working for Sholak," Michael interjected with a scared look on his face as beside him Tammy smile through her fear.

"Who…," Buffy asked with a confused look on her face as she and Spike walked to the base of the giant grand staircase.

"Sholak…really ugly bugger, I forget what kind of demon he is…let's just say that he doesn't have his playthings for long, they always seem to break, filthy wanker tried to dust me and Angel back in the day…," Spike replied with a tired yawn as he slowly began to walk up the steps, leaving a weary looking Buffy to follow after him to hear his entire answer.

*                       *                          *                            *                       *                      *

"Do you love him," Kennedy timidly asked out of the blue, tensing up her muscles in case she needed to vacate the room in a hurry, as she kept her gaze locked onto Faith's shoulder.

"What…," Faith asked softly, almost as if she had suddenly been shaken out of an intense stupor, as she half turned her head towards Kennedy.

"Do you love him…Wesley I mean," Kennedy clarified her answer with a very nervous but interested look on her face as she hoped that Faith would simply answer the question and not take offense at the idea. 

"Well…what kind of a question is that…," Faith started to reply softly at first before she scowled heavily and glared across the bed at Kennedy.

"An honest one, ever since he arrived you've barely left his side, and when you have it hasn't been for very long, and then there's that little outburst downstairs…need I go on…," Kenny answered with a slightly scared look on her face as she shifted her weight to the edge of her chair.

"Didn't you hear me…he's been hurt to much in the past and as his slayer it's my responsibility to keep him from getting his wimpy ass killed," Faith nearly shouted her reply with an emphatic glare in her eyes before Kennedy stood up and took a step towards the door.

"Fine…you're not in love with him…so tell me this then…why have you been holding his hand this entire time," Kennedy asked with a very pointed and serious frown on her face before she hurriedly slipped out of the room, missing the shocked look on Faith's face as the former rogue slayer glanced down and saw that what Kennedy had said was true.  Oddly enough though she did not pull away, Faith only muttered something incoherently under her breath and stayed where she was.

*                         *                    *                         *                            *                      *

"Ms Burkle we've found something," One of the guards shouted as he crouched down amidst the rubble and waived Fred over to an area that was lit up with portable lights rigged to a generator.

"What is it…," Fred asked with a worried look on her face as she hurried to the spot as quickly as she could.  

"Blood…and from the looks of it…human," The man replied with a grave look of concern on his face as he took in the look of panic that spread like wildfire across Fred's face.

"Human…are you sure…maybe I should…," Fred started to babble out softly as in her mind she tried to calm herself down and keep from thinking to horrible of thoughts.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but after working for Wolfram and Hart for as long as I have you get to be able to tell human blood on sight, it's part of the job," The man answered with a grim frown on his face before another of the guards called her attention away from the spatter of blood and broken glass.

"Have a look at this Ms Burkle…heavy tire marks, it appears that someone tore out of here in a big hurry, and from the dispersal pattern of the glass shards I'd say that whoever did this was backing up when it happened, and from the rest of the evidence I think that it's safe to say to a medical certainty that Mr. Wyndam-Pryce was here at some point," That second guard added with a serious expression on his face as he slowly stood up from the pavement, which showed two large black marks.  

"I don't like this…," Fred mumbled softly with now an even more worried look on her face as the guards and medics around her began to eye each other with confused looks on their faces.

"W…what now ma'am, do we return to headquarters and regroup or…," The first guard asked slowly as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his knees.

"No…Angel told me to come to Sunnydale and find Wesley and bring him back and that's exactly what I'm going to do no matter how long it takes, okay everyone pack up, we're headed to Revello Drive, but remember we're not supposed to hurt anyone so keep the safety's on," Fred exclaimed loud enough so that all of those with her could hear before they packed up and tore off across town.

Dawn had reluctantly come out of her room, only making the trip because her bladder felt like it was about to burst before she heard the doorbell ring.  At first she thought about simply returning to her room and locking the door before diving underneath the covers but then suddenly a thought hit her, it could be Buffy.  With a fervor she tore around the corner, down the stairs, and threw open the door with a, "Buffy!"

"Huh…," Fred mumbled out with a startled and surprised look on her face as she took a step back away from the door and stared at the young redhead in front of her. 

"Wait a minute, you're not Buffy…who are you," Dawn asked with a very pointed and almost angry tone to her voice as she held the door now only half open and glared across the threshold at the Texan standing on her doorstep.  

"Winifred Burkle, I work for Wolfram and Hart," Fred managed to reply with a stutter before Dawn disappeared from the doorway and stepped away as little more of a familiar face came into view.

"Fred…what are you…," Willow asked with a confused look on her face as she turned her head slowly from watching Dawn sulk back up the steps, tears running down her cheeks.

"Willow…hi…uh I'm looking for Wesley, is he here…do you know where he is…," Fred asked with an impatient and exasperated look on her face as she clasped her hands together rather than allow them to shake and belay her level of nervousness. 

"Yeah he…he's here, upstairs…but he's hurt…you're going to have to…," Willow stuttered out her reply before Fred regained her composure and nodded her head towards the door.  Before Willow could finish her answer over a dozen heavily armed Wolfram and Hart guards rushed inside, catching a startled Kennedy as she was just reaching the bottom of the stairs and all of the potentials in the basement.  The guards kept their safeties on as Fred had told them to but still made for an impressive show of force.  "Fred…what is this…," Willow asked with a confused and scared look on her face as she pulled an angered Kennedy behind her.

"I'm sorry Willow, I really am…but I have my orders to get Wesley back to LA as quickly as possible and any way possible…now please stay calm, we'll take Wesley with us and be gone before you know it," Fred replied with a look of shaky confidence on her face as she stepped across the threshold and tried to not look to threatening.

"What is the meaning of this…who are you," Giles demanded with an angry look on his face as he stormed in between two guards and stepped up to Fred, a slightly woozy Robin close behind him.

"Fred…," A weak question from the top of the stairs asked that shook everyone out of the seeming standoff that had come up.

"Oh my God…Wesley," Fred exclaimed loudly before she scrambled up the stairs to his side and at first failed to notice Faith more than holding him upright.

"I must look a fright," Wesley whispered through the pain before he gritted his teeth and would have collapsed to his knees had Faith not tightened her grip and held him up.

"He's hurt Slim, can't this wait…," Faith demanded with a worried and angry scowl on her face as she helped Wesley to lean on the banister as the two stepped down onto the first step of the stairs.

"What…no, we…Angel needs him, his help…with something and…," Fred mumbled softly with a distracted look in her eyes before she shook it off and hurriedly motioned for the medics behind her.  

"What is going on here…I demand an explanation," Giles stated, nearly in a shout, before he quickly shut his mouth as one of the guards raised his weapon and lightly tapped the end of the barrel against his chest.

"Her name's Winifred Burkle and she works with Angel, she came here to find Wesley and take him back to LA because Angel needs his help with something," Willow answered the question before anyone else could as she slowly and calmly turned her head and looked over at Giles.  

"But what's with all of the…," Xander asked with a concerned look on his face as he and Anya appeared in the doorway behind Giles and Robin and stared nervously at the drawn guns.  

"We have her things ma'am…ma'am…," The first guard from before he stood rigid and saluted Fred, who was mostly to busy to notice as she was busy helping the medics get Wesley onto the gurney.  

"Good…get them into the truck…okay people clear a path…," Fred shouted with a slight nod of her head before she hurriedly followed the gurney with Wesley strapped down onto it back down the stairs, making sure that no one bumped it.  Faith followed closely behind, worry and concern clearly evident in her gaze and actions.  The guard followed his given orders and soon Giles and the others were pushed back even further as several guards hurried past them, carrying everything from Buffy's room down the stairs with them.  One of the last guards out couldn't fit the last piece of Buffy's things into the bag so he stuffed the stuffed pig under his arm and followed the others out of the room.  The guards quickly hurried back out of the house almost as quickly as they had come, leaving Giles and almost everyone else a little to stunned to move.  

"Fred…wait…," Faith called out after Fred from the doorway as she tried to keep from following after the gurney.

"Do you know where Buffy and Spike are…," Willow quickly shouted out her question with a hurried look on her face as she rushed to Faith's side as the medics loaded Wesley into the ambulance while the guards stored all of Buffy's things away in one of the larger trucks.

"No…I'm sorry…, goodbye," Fred answered with a deep in though look on her face as she kept herself from making eye contact with either Faith or Willow after taking a long and dramatic pause to fully consider her reply.  With that Fred quickly jumped into the waiting limousine and shouted at the driver to get moving, leaving everyone in the house to sadly stare off after the quickly disappearing column of vehicles, with Faith wearing an expression of someone watching the most important person in their world slipping away with a hopeless feeling in the pit of her stomach and a lone tear sliding effortlessly down her cheek, going completely unnoticed by everyone.

"Hey guys…what'd I miss…," A confused Andrew asked through a mouthful of popcorn as he looked around oddly at the frightened potentials after having come in through the back door.

"Only everything…," Xander replied coldly with a very worried look on his face before he caught sight of Willow shaking slightly and put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

*                        *                     *                          *                   *                       *

"How's it coming," Angel asked softly as he walked out of the elevator, cup of blood in hand, and kept his gaze away from anyone but Lorne's.

"Mission accomplished Chief…okay mostly accomplished, there was someone that got out a short report about Sunnydale becoming deserted before we were able to cut him off…," Lorne saluted with a happy smile on his face at first before he smile sagged down into a frown and he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's not good news Lorne, how much got out in that short report," Angel asked with an impatient tone to his voice, one that told Lorne not to beat around the bush but to come clean with the straight answers.

"Just that the citizens of Sunnydale were making like Diana Ross on her Supremes comeback tour and disappeared," Lorne replied sadly with a worried smile on his face as he tried to laugh but failed at the glum look on Angel's face as he took a sip of the blood and looked around the room.

"I want you to find out where that report went to and destroy it, we can't leave any record anywhere of the mass exodus out of Sunnydale, we can't screw this up," Angel commanded with a very serious frown on his face as he looked very much like a general on the battlefield, ordering his troops into battle.

"Yes sir…," Lorne's team replied in unison before they turned around and feverishly went back to tracking down both the sender and who the short report had been sent to with their computers.

"You see Angelcakes, we've got everything under control…now onto other matters…heard anything from Fred yet, did she find Wesley," Lorne asked with a restrained look of hope on his face as he went to pat Angel on the shoulder but stopped at the serious look on Angel's face.

"She called a little while ago, they found Wesley's blood at some hotel…but no body, she's going to go to Buffy's old house and see if he made it there, she'll call me back when she finds anything," Angel replied coldly with an impassive frown on his face before he took another sip of his blood.  

"Blood…that doesn't sound so good Angelcakes…Wesley must really be injured if he hasn't answered his pager yet…I only hope that Winifred finds him and gets him back here quickly enough," Lorne lamented with a worried sigh before he adjusted the lapel of his suit, silently fretting about how the color really didn't match his skin tone or horns and how he should have seen it sooner. 

"He's alive Lorne…I don't know where he is…but Wesley's alive and Fred will find him, I'd know if he were dead," Angel replied calmly with a stone cold emotionless look on his face with the cup of blood up to his lips before he turned and started to walk out of the room.

"Ye…yeah but…are you sure…I'm empathic and even I can't…," Lorne started to babble out his question with a very worried look on his face while wringing his hands in frustration before he took a few steps towards the retreating Angel.

"I'd know…," Angel stated plainly with his voice full of certainty before he walked out into the maelstrom that was the offices of Wolfram and Hart.

END OF CHAPTER 8


	9. Longings For Things PastPresentFuture

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 9-LONGINGS FOR THINGS PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE**

She slowly crept through the darkened halls, using every sense to keep from making any noise that would alert the sentry.  It was her first night in the house and in her mind she had spent half the night getting lost down one long corridor or another, all leading to nowhere in particular.  She had initially set out from her room, or at least the one that she was temporarily calling her room, to find the kitchen and make herself a midnight snack, despite how much her body craved sleep.  She had passed the master bedroom a few times, every time marveling and smiling a bit at the sight of Spike and Buffy collapsed down face first onto the bed.  Both looked as if they had walked into the room and collapsed onto the bed, slipping into a dream before their noses ever hit the comforter.

"They look so cute together," Molly mused silently in her mind as she crept past the door for a third time in less than an hour, forgetting that she was quickly becoming lost.  She could have sworn that the kitchen was nearby but finally finding the stairs Molly shrugged her shoulders and slowly made her way down the steps before she spotted a light on at the end of a nearby hallway.  Hoping and praying that it was the kitchen Molly trudged off down the hall, now not caring as much about making noise as she was on a different floor of the house than Spike and Buffy.  When she got to the light she pushed open the door and had to rapidly blink for several seconds before her eyes became adjusted to the light.  She nearly squealed with delight when she took in her surroundings.  She was indeed in the kitchen, but one like she had never seen before.  Before Giles had come and taken her to America after the death of her watcher Molly had been used to small and cramped kitchens with very few amenities.  However from her perspective the kitchen in which she now found herself had everything, the refrigerator looked to be as big as one of the stone statues on Easter Island.  Feeling her stomach growl Molly quickly rushed over and ripped open the door, her eyes almost glazing over at the bountiful amount of food that she found within.

*                       *                            *                         *                       *                       *

"Winifred…who's that," Andrew asked with a scared look on his face as he sat down in the only remaining open chair in the living room and pulled his feet up under him.

"Winifred Burkle, she works with Angel in LA, about a year ago or so he and the rest of Angel Investigations traveled to another dimension called Pylea to get Cordelia back, after she had been sucked through a portal…anyway they met Fred there and brought her back with them," Willow replied with an almost scholarly air about her as she slowly looked around the room, making sure that everyone heard everything that she had said.

"So what was up with the whole Terminatrix tude that she was packing," Rhona asked with an unhappy frown on her face as she leaned back up against the wall, just in time to avoid coming into contact with Faith as the latter slowly walked into the room, as if in somewhat of a daze.

"She probably knows what happened with Buffy…Angel probably sent her with orders to find Wesley and bring him back, and not to take no for answer…," Faith mumbled out loudly enough for those in the room to hear as she made her way through the crowd to solemnly stare out through a crack in between the two boards that covered the shattered window.

"Well she could have been a bit nicer about it…," Vi quipped with a timid and scared look on her face as she absentmindedly began to rub a small bruise on her elbow.

"Yes Vi she could have, but what we need to do right now is…," Giles began to say with a deeply creased brow as he looked around the room before Xander cut in.

"Right now we need to regroup and patrol…yeah a good patrol will calm everyone down…," Xander interjected with a look of sincere hope on his face before he could only smile awkwardly as Anya gave him a supportive pat on the back.

"I wonder if our leader is going to feel up to a patrol…she doesn't seem to be to big on the grr and the stake…," Willow joked with a sad pout on her face before Kennedy wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her close, settling her chin on Willow's shoulder.

"I agree…she's much more into the doom and gloom brooding phase…with the addition of the tears she almost…," Anya started to add with an odd smile on her face before Faith wheeled around on her heels and briskly walked past everyone until she got to the foot of the stairs.  She was met by both a tearful Dawn, sniffling sadly as she clutched a picture of the three Summers women before Joyce's death, and Robin, warily eyeing her with his feet set for a confrontation while rubbing the forthcoming bruise on his cheek.

"Get out of my way," Faith declared with as polite of tone to her voice as she felt up to as she tried to step in between the two and up the stairs, but Robin stopped her.

"I don't think so Faith…not after that stunt that you pulled earlier…knocking me out," Robin asked with an angry glint in his eye as he started to take a step forward but Faith surged forward, blocked his advance with one leg before she grabbed him by the throat with both hands and slammed him back up against the wall.

"You got what you deserved…and if you don't want me to do it again you'll be a good little kiss ass and get the hell out of my way," Faith declared with a very certain and threatening element to her voice as she gave Robin's throat a good squeeze before she let go and stormed up the stairs.  Everyone stayed rooted to their spot in the room in a stunned silence for several moments before they were all jolted out of it as Faith angrily slammed the door to Buffy's old room shut behind her.  Giles thought about making the trek up the stairs and demand for Faith to come out and talk to him but stopped when he heard a radio turn on and its volume be turned up loud enough that he was able to tell that the formerly rogue slayer did not want to be disturbed.  

Faith felt a little better after turning on the music but could only make it until she got to the end of the bed before she could deny the feelings that were welling up within her no longer and unceremoniously flopped down onto the bed.  She tried to keep her composure for several seconds before finally letting the tears flow.  Soon she slid off of the end of the bed and curled up, with her knees up to her chin and arms tightly around them, into a ball before she lowered her head and let the sobs take over, thankful that no one would be able to hear her over the music.

*                        *                         *                           *                    *                         *

Buffy smiled softly as she came to and found Spike curled up beside her, complete with an innocent look on his face as he slumbered away in the morning sunlight.  Instinct, rather than the memory of the windows being specially treated Buffy went into instant panic mode and snapped her eyes open before she grabbed Spike around the waist and used her strength to roll the two off of the bed, finally landing with her back to the floor and Spike lying on top of her.

"What the…why am I…are we…did we…," Spike mumbled with a shocked and worried look on his face as he slowly came to and caught site of the look of concern and panic in the hazel eyes that stared back at him.

"Well…I woke up, you were in the sun…I had to do something…," Buffy nervously replied with an embarrassed smile on her face as she searched for a plausible explanation.

"Good thinking pet…," Spike whispered softly through a completely useless yawn before he continued with an almost hungry look in his eyes, "but since we're down here…," before he leaned down and lightly brushed his lips up against Buffy's.  He waited for an almost split second before he heard Buffy moan softly and then smile brightly before she returned the kiss, allowing one hand to roam up to pull him deeper into the kiss while slipping her other under his shirt and almost giggling at the thrill of it all. Meanwhile Spike's hands began a similar journey as one cupped Buffy's cheek while the other slid underneath her shirt and followed Buffy's hand up his back in a parallel race up their bodies. Clothes were quickly discarded and soon the two were in a world of bliss all their own.

*                        *                       *                         *                     *                          *

Upon entering the kitchen all of Angel's senses were telling him that something was wrong.  On the island just off of the stove and sink sat the potential slayer that he had helped heal and then bring to Wolfram and Hart.  From his vantage point in the doorway he couldn't tell if she was okay but when he stopped to listen he could almost swear that he could hear the young English lass snoring ever so softly.  His concern only grew when after taking a step further into the house his gaze came to rest on a streak of crimson that marked the young girl's neck.  Guessing that perhaps he wasn't the only demon in the house, other than Spike, he put on his game face.  "Molly," Angel shouted, his voice full of shock and worry, as he rushed to her side and started to take her into his arms.  Before he could though the young potentials eyes shot open, with the first image that her mind registered being of Angel coming towards her, yellow eyes glittering like diamonds in the sun.

"Ah….," Molly screamed out at the top of her lungs as she frantically scrambled to get as far away from the perceived threat as she could, only managing to fall off of the stool and crash to the floor.

"No…wait, Molly stop, I'm not going to hurt you," Angel blurted out quickly as he desperately tried to calm the potentials hysterics.

"Stay away from me," Molly shouted with a scared out of her wits expression on her face as she fearfully crawled back away from Angel.

"Molly no…it's me…Angel," Angel said with a nervous and even slightly scared edge to his voice before he realized that he still wore his game face and quickly shifted back to his human visage.

"A…Angel," Molly stammered out, still not believing or knowing exactly what was going on, as she momentarily stopped her attempts to flee.

"Yeah Molly…it's me…Angel…," Angel quickly answered back with as kind and gentle of voice as he could manage as he knelt down beside Molly to let her get a good look at him.  After a few moments of staring wide eyed at him the tension seemed to leave her body and Molly let her shoulders droop and a dopey smile cross her face.

"Sorry…," Molly mumbled with an embarrassed smile on her face as Angel slowly helped her back up to her feet.  

"Forget it Molly, I should be the one apologizing to you, I should have been more careful and not scared you out of your wits like that," Angel added with a sincere look of regret on his face as he gave Molly his best winning smile.

"No…it was me, I scare easily, have ever since I was a kid, me mum always tried to break me of it but…," Molly started to say with an apologetic smile on her face before she began to ramble, finally having to stop when Buffy walked into the kitchen, light blue bathrobe tightly cinched at the waist.

"Hey Angel…," Buffy drawled through a slow yawn as she walked past the two to the refrigerator and took out a jug of milk before beginning her search through the cupboards to try to find a glass.

"Good morning Buffy…sleep well," Molly stammered out quickly as she pushed Angel away and tried to tidy up her mess from the night before, completely oblivious to Angel's staring at the red smudge on her neck.

"Yeah…," Buffy mumbled out with a cheesy grin on her face as she found a glass and poured herself a glass.

"Molly…are you okay…," Angel whispered softly as he followed Molly over to the counter and wiped some of the red material off of her neck, showing it to her.

"What…I'm fine Angel…what, haven't you ever seen ketchup before," Molly grinned through her words as she wiped some of the material off of her neck, and after giving it a quick sniff licked the ketchup off of her finger, leaving Angel to only hang his head in embarrassment.  

"Where's Spike," Angel asked after clearing his throat and turning around to look at Buffy standing at the refrigerator, the lack of thickness of the bathrobe doing nothing to calm the lustful thoughts in his head.

"Taking a shower, he'll be down soon, and then the two of you can go back to arguing about everything," Buffy replied with a half shrug of her shoulders before she walked over to the table and pulled out a chair.

"Buffy…we don't argue about everything…okay close to everything but…ah never mind, I came over here because sometime soon we need to all have to discuss our plan of action about how we're going to handle the Sunnydale situation," Angel started to reply defiantly before his shield dropped and he shook his head before sitting down beside Buffy as she took a drink of milk.

"Sunnydale isn't my problem anymore Angel, besides they have Faith as their leader now, let her think of something, I'm sure that she's got everyone…," Buffy interjected with a carefree frown on her face as she seemed to not like to have to talk about her former home.

"Sunnydale will always be your problem Buffy, no matter what those…whether you like it or not, something has to be done, we can't let the First get a foothold in the world…now I want…," Angel started to disagree with Buffy before his cell phone rang out loudly and he reluctantly answered it, the crease in his brow only deepening at the news.

"Everything okay…," Buffy asked with a concerned frown on her face as she prepared to take another drink.

"Fred's back at the office, she found Wesley but he's hurt, Gunn wants to give the clerics a chance to heal him but they need my signature and authorization before beginning…sorry but we're going to have to finish this conversation later…but think about what I said okay," Angel replied with a worried look on his face as he knew that Gunn wasn't telling him the whole story about how badly Wesley was injured before he got up from the table and rushed outside, very glad that he had parked near the canopy with its necro tinted glass.  He had even taken the extra step of leaving his door open for an easier time getting back into his car.  He quickly slammed his door shut and took off.

"Is he…always like that," Molly stammered out slowly with a confused look on her face as she quickly began to clean up her mess from the night before.

"Oh no…let me tell you, you haven't even begun to learn who Angel really is…who knows it could take you an entire lifetime and you'll still get baffled by the simplest thing," Buffy replied with a humorous chuckle, as the lip of the glass gently rested on her bottom lip before Spike walked into the kitchen, completely dressed, and trying his best to style his hair without the aid of a mirror.

"So what was Peaches here for…," Spike asked with a carefree yawn as he opened the refrigerator and began to rifle through its contents.

"To scare the shit out of Molly," Buffy joked back her reply with a barely contained fit of laughter after seeing the panicked look on Molly's face.

"I'm going to have to have a talk with him about that…coming in here like he owns the place and scaring the Nibblet half to death…bloody wanker," Spike stated with a very convincingly look of seriousness on his face before he took a seat at the table beside Buffy.  With a playful smirk he ripped the glass of milk out of Buffy's hands and downed the rest of the glass, winking at the slayer when he was done.

"I hate you…," Buffy growled softly under her breath with faux daggers aimed at Spike in her eyes before she heard Molly suppress a giggle from the island.

"No comments from the peanut gallery Bit, unless that is you have something to say other than that little bit that I can see on the tip of your tongue…," Spike said with a fake look of scolding on his face as he turned and looked in Molly's direction.

"But it's true…I can't help it Spike, you two are like two little kids around each other, ever since I met you I've seen it, most of the time you both act like detached and emotionless zombies, but when it's just the two…well three of us now…you like morph into someone else, like one of those bloody pod people, ice cold one minute and happy fluffy bunny the next…," Molly returned with a hurt and frumpy frown on her face as she rested her chin on her crossed arms on the counter and returned Spike's lighthearted glare.

"You're probably right Molly, but a word of advice, if you're ever around Anya again…don't mention bunnies," Buffy quipped with a sly smirk on her face as she briefly made eye contact with Spike, who broke out in a broad smile, before she took the glass of milk back from Spike and rose from her seat and walked back to the refrigerator to pour herself another.

"Why," Molly asked softly with a confused look on her face as she sat back up and turned to first look at Buffy and then to Spike at the table.

"Bird's got some phobia about her…craziest thing I ever saw, millennia old vengeance demon being scared stupid by four hopping little legs and a cute button nose…," Spike mused with a confused smirk on his face as he leaned back in his seat and stared out of the window.

"Beats me…did you know that she even once dressed up as a big rabbit for Halloween…weird," Buffy added with a confused shrug of her shoulders as she opened up the refrigerator and poured herself another glass of milk.

"Oh and Red has a thing with frogs n' tadpoles and the like…no clue why…," Spike joked with a confused shaking of his head as he kept staring out of the window before Buffy returned to the table and the conversation continued.

*                             *                         *                           *                      *                    *

"Where is he," Angel demanded with a very serious and somewhat angry frown on his face as he stormed out of his office and almost bumped into Knox.

"He…he's in the infirmary boss…chief…sir…," Knox stammered out with a combination terrified and embarrassed smile on his face as he got into step with Angel as the two headed for the elevator. 

"I'd think so Knox…but what's his condition, how is he, do we know why he didn't call us back," Angel asked with a growing look of anger on his face as he half considered strangling the young man.

"Something attacked him, slashed his left shoulder and left side up pretty well…the clerics are all ready to go but like I said on the phone, they need your signature and authorization before they begin," Knox answered with a very nervous smell to him before the elevators doors opened and Angel's gaze fixed on Wesley lying unconscious on an operating table with a flurry of doctors around him, the smell of the former watchers blood hanging heavily in the room.

"Got a pen," Angel asked without missing a step as he entered the room and stood at the foot of the bed.

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. A Plea For Help

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 10-A PLEA FOR HELP**

"Faith…please, open the door, it's me…Giles," Giles shouted over the music while yet trying not to sound angry or laying any amount of blame on the former rogue slayer.  Since she had gone into Buffy's old room and locked the door behind her Faith had cried more in that single hour than she had the entire rest of her life.  Her eyes were beyond red from the effects of the tears and Faith at first was adamant about refusing to leave the room.  Not because she was afraid of what lay before her but rather her fears rested in the wellspring of new emotions that had sprung up over the course of the past few days.  Before Faith had simply squelched her emotions and demons with torrents of booze or one of many faceless suitors, but now it was crystal clear to her that neither of those options would work anymore.  She was forced to admit that she would have to come up with a new means of dealing with her emotions.

"Anything," Willow asked softly with a worried look on her face as Kennedy leaned up against the wall near the door with her arms crossed and an unhappy frown on her face.

"Not yet…," Giles replied softly with a worried look on his face as he checked his watch and shook his head.

"Are we even sure that she's still in there…I mean she could have…gone out the window," Vi offered up with a timid smile on her face before the silent attention that her suggestion offered up forced her to turn around and quickly walk back down the stairs and disappear around the corner.

"She's right you know, we're not even sure that she's still in there," Xander said softly after turning his gaze back from Vi disappearing around the corner to the locked door.

"She's in there all right…but I don't understand why, a couple of days ago she was all ready to be the leader, then Wesley shows up and everything goes to hell," Willow added glumly with a sad look on her face as she turned to look to Giles for help.

"You don't think that he said something do you, something that upset her," Anya offered with an unhappy frown on her face as the entire situation was putting her nerves on edge.

"It's possible Anya, although for the life of me I can't fathom what he possibly could have said or done that would have disturbed her to such a degree as this," Giles wondered aloud with a now very concerned look on his face as he crossed his arms and shook his head.

"She did seem to be protecting him pretty fiercely, who knows maybe some of her long dormant slayer tendencies to protect her watcher finally kicked in," Willow guessed with an optimistic smile on her face as she looked around the landing.

"It's not anything that he said…it's what he did…or they did…it's got her all scared and confused," Kennedy stated in a rather blunt tone of voice before she pushed off of the wall and slowly walked down the stairs.

*                        *                             *                        *                        *                      *

"How are you feeling," Fred asked softly with a worried look on her face as Wesley slowly sat up.

"Better than before…I'm not ready to run a marathon but I no longer feel the urge to…well you get the idea," Wesley replied weakly with a tired and exhausted expression on his face as he carefully lifted his left arm, thankful that the pain was gone.  All that was left of the horrible scars that the creature had left on his body were four faint white lines that started on his back and came over his shoulder and four more faint white lines that curled around his left side.

"Hey English you're awake," Gunn shouted with a happy and relieved smile on his face as he walked into the infirmary and loosened his tie.

"Very perceptive Charles," Fred joked with a fake look of anger on her face as she shook her head and set down the clipboard that she had been holding.

"Did I miss anything important," Wesley asked with an uncomfortable grimace on his face as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Well…you don't have to worry about finding that special weapon that you found in your books," Gunn stated with a slightly nervous smile on his face as he walked up to Wesley helped him to stand up.

"So you went and found the scythe then," Wesley guessed with a happy smile on his face as he gingerly tested his legs underneath him, thankful that they stayed firm and kept him standing.  Gunn and Fred looked at each other silently for a few seconds before Gunn responded after chuckling a little.

"Actually…uh, the scythe kind of came to us…Buffy and Spike pretty much showed up on our doorstep with the said weapon in hand, made it all pretty easy really," Gunn answered with a humorous smile on his face as he walked over and sat down on the bed and looked up at Wesley.

"Angel had Gunn put them up in one of our clean homes…you know the ones that we've taken all of Wolfram and Hart's bugs out of…and…," Fred added with an ecstatic smile on her face as she rushed over and gave Wesley a light hug, hoping not to hurt him, before another voice entered the fray.  

"Along with a refugee potential slayer from Sunnydale named Molly Windholm…," Angel interrupted with a happy smirk on his face before he walked over and joined the group.

"Angel…this is all so, Buffy and Spike…I find that hard to believe, even after what little I learned in Sunnydale," Wesley stated with a slightly confused but happy look on his face as he took a few shaky steps away from the bed.

"Unfortunately it's true…they're a…couple…now, I was at their new house when I got the phone call that you were back, sorry for not being here when you woke up but there were some figures that the accountants wanted to go over and they wouldn't come here so I had to go there and…," Angel replied with a calm expression on his face before he sat down on the bed beside Gunn and almost absentmindedly picked up Wesley's chart and flipped through it.

"Forget about it Angel, I understand that…but what I don't understand is why they're even here, Buffy and Spike I mean, I'm aware of why they were elsewhere when I arrived at her home…but why would they come here of all places, from what you've told me about Spike Angel I can hardly see why he'd pay you a visit without having a damn good reason," Wesley said with a deep in thought look on his face as he turned back around to face Gunn, Fred, and Angel.

"He and Buffy needed somewhere to stay, and nothing's to good for Buffy…except Spike, but truthfully I really don't give a damn why Spike wanted to come here, they're here now and they're never going back to that hellhole of a town," Angel declared with a very set in stone scowl of certainty on his face before he stood up, tossed Wesley's chart back onto the bed and walked back out of the room.

*                           *                           *                            *                       *                    *

"I found the spare key that Buffy kept in the junk drawer," Xander announced with a full of pride smile on his face as he held up an old grungy key for everyone to see.  After Kennedy's little clue as to the cause of Faith's melancholy Xander had remembered the existence of the key and had instantly gone in search of it.

"So do we all barge in their like a swat team…or we draw straws…to see who gets to tell her the bad news…," Willow asked with a worried frown on her face as she shuffled her feet and hung her head.

"I'll go in first…alone, I'll try to get her to come out, I think that it's best for the rest of you to go back downstairs and make sure that the potentials don't break anything…else," Giles replied with a very serious scowl on his face as he turned to Willow before a loud crash was heard from downstairs.

"Right…now remember Giles…don't say anything about…you know…," Willow stammered out in a hushed voice before she couldn't help but tear up as storm clouds gathered overhead.

"We'll have to tell her sometime Will…she's probably going to notice one less potential…," Xander exclaimed back in a hushed whisper with a dejected frown on his face as he put an arm around his best friend.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Faith won't remember how many potentials there were and…," Andrew started to add with an optimistic smile on his face before Giles loudly cleared his throat while everyone else were busy summoning the breath needed to shout at their former nerd nemesis turned reluctant ally.

"All of you…downstairs…," Giles stated with such a clearly commanding tone of voice that no one dared question it as they all slowly sulked back down the stairs.  When he was alone atop the stairs Giles said a silent prayer before slipping the key into the lock, turning it, and opening the door.

*                       *                        *                              *                      *                       *

"Damned slayer hearing," Faith thought with a scathing curse on her lips that she dared not to utter lest the legion assembled nary a short distance away would know that she were up and awake.  Faith had heard the entire conversation that had taken place on the landing outside of the door, whether she had wanted to or not.  She had been about to barricade the door when she heard Xander announce that he had the key but she had stopped at the realization that other than herself or the bed there was nothing to put in front of the door.  Her heart plummeted to the pits of hell at the mention of a lost potential.  Before when Buffy had been in charge at the losing of a potential Faith had been able to sit quietly in the background, not liking funerals as per them being constant reminders of her own mortality and the gaping maw that sought to suck her into it and consume her upon her death.  In her mind there was no light at the end of the tunnel for a detestable and contemptible whore such as herself.  She let out a soft sob as she tried to guess which potential it was that had been lost on her watch.  The rumble of everyone trampling back downstairs shook her out of her momentary recall.  Acting impulsively, as per her norm, Faith retreated into her past.  When Giles opened the door and forced the mattress aside, an act that Faith had done at the last minute, all that he found was an empty room, with a pair of shoes and socks slung up against one wall and a gaping hole in the window, a small pool of blood on the floor nearby.

*                    *                          *                          *                         *                          *

"Everyone in agreement here," Angel asked with a bored and frustrated look on his face as he stared at the paper in front of him.

"I think so," Wesley replied before popping a few pills into his mouth and washing them down with a glass of water.  The clerics had given Wesley the pills with the only explanation being that they helped to keep his body from rejecting the healing process.  But as a side effect he had become a bit drowsy.

"Sure took long enough…," Spike growled with an annoyed scowl on his face as he leaned back in his chair and imagined himself doing anything more enjoyable than what he was doing at that particular moment.

"Okay…so we want two large sausages, one large pepperoni, and one large Canadian bacon," Fred said plainly with a patient expression on her face as she read the list off.

"Good…now that supper is taken care of let's get down to business…Wes put the special ops team on red alert, I want helicopters and tear gas…," Angel stated with a very direct and emphatic tone of voice before he pounded his fists onto the table to further accentuate his last order.

"Angel…are you sure that's wise, the special ops team is supposed to only be utilized in the most extreme and hazardous situations…I'm not…," Wesley started to argue with a tired and concerned frown on his face before his cell phone rang.  With an embarrassed smile Wesley pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

*                          *                             *                   *                        *                              *

She had fled the house over two hours ago.  Since then she had wandered the streets aimlessly, with no particular course plotted out in her head.  She didn't care that she was barefoot and the small rocks scattered about cut into the soles of her feet.  Or that the slowly growing trickle of blood following her was like a giant come and get it arrow to the ubervamps skulking around in the shadows.  The dark clouds that had rolled in early in the morning now dominated the sky, pushing a cold wind about.  Before she had even trekked a mile from the house on Revello Drive the rain began to fall, light at first before it began to pelt her in earnest.  It was almost as if the rain were punishing her for her indiscretions and failure to make up her mind on how to deal with her emotions.  It took nary a few moments before she was soaked clear through to the bone.  Shivering almost uncontrollably and the blood flowing freely from her badly injured right hand Faith was beginning to have a hard time staying conscious before she arrived at the old Sunnydale mall.  She had injured her hand when she had driven it through the window in her room to escape.  

Her thoughts drifted aimlessly through her head, never finding refuge for very long before the next thought took its place.  Her thoughts soon became too jumbled and convoluted to be processed clearly.  However there was one thought that was coming through loud and clear.  Her memory of the kiss that she had shared with Wesley, and its reciprocating emotions, soon became all consuming.  That thought was what drove her to the nearest pay phone, using her thumb to press in the number of her hope rather than risk misdialing because of how badly her hands were shaking from the cold and the pain of shattering the window.  Her heart raced through its beats as she waited through only a few rings before he picked up.  

"Hello…hello…," Wesley asked with a tired look on his face as he leaned back in his chair and flicked a piece of lint off of his jeans.  Wesley waited for a few seconds and was about to hang up when a voice from the other end stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Wesley…," Faith muttered through chattering teeth as she leaned heavily up against the wall near the phone booth and wiped the sleep out of her eyes.  

"Faith…," Wesley whispered softly as he held the volume of his voice low with a worried and surprised look on his face as he turned away from the others in the room and stood up.  Angel looked about ready to ask a question but stopped when Molly politely offered him a piece of candy.

"Can you, I mean we, I need to talk to you, please," Faith said softly into the phone before she sniffled and didn't at first notice the few tears that slipped out.

"What…, yes of course we can talk Faith, when do you…," Wesley replied with a very interested look on his face as he slowly walked to a corner of the boardroom and leaned back up against the wall.  

"Now," Faith quickly replied with a sharp intake of breath as she shifted her fingers just far enough to shoot electric pulses of pain up her right arm and to her shoulder.

"Oh…um yeah, I can do that, where are you calling from, you don't sound like you're at Buffy's house…," Wesley asked with a concerned frown on his face as he nervously began to rub his temple with his free hand.

"I'm not at B's house…I had to get out of there and think…meet me at the Bronze, and Wes…," Faith answered with a hurried deliverance before she had to bite her bottom lip to retain control over her emotions as the slow trickle of tears had increased.

"Yeah…," Wesley wondered with a poorly hidden edge of fear in his voice as he pushed off of the wall and stood straight up, not caring that now Fred and Lorne were staring at him, a million and one questions on the tips of their tongues.

"Don't tell B…," Faith added with a nervous and almost childlike tone to her voice before she hung up and sauntered back out into the downpour.

"I don't see…hello, damn," Wesley nearly shouted into his phone before he realized that Faith had hung up and he shut his phone off and slammed it back into his pocket.

"Everything okay," Fred asked with a worried look of innocence on her face as Wesley sulked back over to his chair and sat back down.

"No…Angel I need to go back to Sunnydale, today," Wesley answered coldly, as if he were more making a statement than implying anything with his words.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…," Angel began with an unsure shrug of his shoulders as he shook his head before Wesley interrupted him by slamming his folders closed.

"I'm going back to Sunnydale whether you like it or not Angel," Wesley exclaimed with a very forceful expression on his face before he stood up and started to storm out of the room.

"Wesley wait don't…," Angel shouted with a confused and alarmed tone to his voice before he jumped up out of his chair and followed Wesley out into the hallway, smiling at an intern as she passed by and smiled at him.

"That phone call was from Faith Angel, she didn't sound right, she said that she had left Buffy's house and needed to talk to me…she's scared of something Angel, and wanted to talk to me, so as I was saying I'm going to Sunnydale whether you like it or not so…," Wesley shot back with a determined and frustrated slant to his step as he walked towards the stairs and descended them, a confused Angel close behind him.

"Not alone you're not, you can go to Sunnydale and talk to Faith, but she's my friend to so I'm going with you…whether you like it or not," Angel countered with a calm look of certainty and urgency on his face as he and Wesley caught the elevator just as the doors were about to close.

"But what about the others…shouldn't we…," Wesley began with a start as he nodded back up at the office, noticing a brunette head sticking out of the doorway and two confused eyes watching the elevators doors close.

"Gunn and Fred can handle this end…besides, this should be fun…," Angel added with an almost boyish look of excitement on his face as the elevator began to descend.

*                     *                        *                        *                       *                        *

"What…she's gone," Willow stammered out with a total look of disbelief and terror spread across her face as she clenched down hard on her glass of water to keep from dropping it.

"Like Houdini Will…well if Houdini smashed his hand through a window and left his shoes and socks behind," Xander quipped in response with a terrified smile on his face before Giles walked past, scowling heavily.

"So what now, do we go after her…," Robin asked with a look of disbelief and concern on his face as he lightly applied an icepack to the bruises on his neck.

"No…if Faith truly wants to be alone we'll never find her," Giles answered with a slight shaking of his head before he pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

"Bitch…," Rhona cursed under her breath with an angry sneer on her face as beside her Vi scrunched up onto her chair, picking her feet up off of the floor and resting her chin on her knees, as she looked like she was about ready to cry.

"Shut up, all of you…she's going to kill me for telling you all of this, but there's something that all of you should know about Faith…well most of you anyway," Kennedy interjected with a fed up look on her face before she ushered Vi and Rhona out of the room, glaring right back at the latter.

"Alright Kennedy…so what's this all about…this big secret that you know about Faith that the rest of us have no idea about," Xander questioned aloud with an almost flippant smile on his face as he picked an apple up out of the basket in the middle of the table and rubbed it against his sleeve.

"Okay…it all began…," Kennedy started to say slowly before she launched into everything, in detail, that Faith had sworn her to keep silent about earlier, feeling that in this honesty was the best policy, no matter what it would cost her in the end.  She did her best to keep the tears at bay as she watched the faces of everyone else in the room contort into almost every perceivable emotion known to man before she finished with, "…I just thought that you should know…," before spinning around slowly on her heel and leaving the room.

END OF CHAPTER 10


	11. Finding Faith And Surprises

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 11-FINDING FAITH AND SURPRISES**

"I wonder where those two scampered off to in such a big hurry," Lorne asked with a slightly hurt and impatient frown on his face before he popped an olive into his mouth and sat back in his chair.

"I bet that it had something to do with that telephone call, whoever it was said something or told Wesley something urgent, otherwise he wouldn't have left so suddenly," Fred added with a keen smile of interest on her face as she leaned forward and lightly tapped the end of her pencil on the table.

"I agree with Fred, but without knowing who it was that called Wesley we don't have a clue as to where to begin," Buffy announced with a frustrated sigh as she sank back into her chair, letting her head roll back and stare up at the ceiling.

"What if we were to assemble the troops and then head to Sunnydale, from what Angel said it's going to be getting pretty ugly there in a hurry," Gunn added with a concerned expression on his face as he straightened his tie.

"I don't care Gunn, I'm not…," Buffy started to argue with a stone cold serious look on her face, as she clenched both hands into fists on top of the table, before Spike reached over and pressed an ice cube to the back of her neck, causing her to shiver a little.

"We have to Buffy, no matter where you are you're still the one, look we don't have to go back to your house if you don't want to, we beat the First then skip town, we could go back to our house or see the world, whatever you want," Spike said softly with such a sympathetic look on his eyes that Buffy knew that he was right and that it would be entirely fruitless to argue any further.

"Okay…but if we're going to go to Sunnydale then I'm going to have to go home and change clothes, I can't fight the forces of darkness in this," Buffy said with a considerably calmer tone of voice before she stood up and turned to Spike.

"Aw…it really brings out your…," Spike started to reply with a sly grin on his face before she figured out where his train of thought was headed and glared at him while shaking her head before she stormed out of the conference room.

*                           *                     *                   *                     *                          *

"One good thing about an impending apocalypse, less traffic…ah come on Wesley, at least a smirk," Angel pleaded with a very dour looking Wesley as the two raced down the road towards Sunnydale, hoping that they could get to Faith before anything bad happened.

"I'm sorry Angel but Faith sounded desperate, how many times has she ever been desperate enough to look to someone else for help," Wesley replied with a somber and worried look on his face as he half turned his gaze to Angel before placing it back on the road in front of them.

"Only once…the night that she tortured you and then begged me to kill her…if she's that desperate now…," Angel answered with at first a kind of nonchalant smirk on his face before his demeanor became serious and he pushed the gas pedal all the way down to the floor.

*                     *                           *                        *                     *                      *

After making the call she had originally intended to wait at the payphone for Wesley to come.  But a mere five minutes later she had hurriedly slipped into the Bronze after seeing a trio of ubervamps lurking around in an alleyway across the street.  Her teeth chattered uncontrollably as she entered the Bronze, silently cursing her luck that someone had left the air conditioner on.  She wrapped her arms tightly around her body as she slowly made her way towards the bar, initially intending to drink herself silly and relieve the chill in the air.  But the persistent pain in her feet from the trip to the Bronze, and the knowledge of how bad it would look for Wesley to find her sitting behind the bar at the Bronze drunk off her rocker.  The last thing that she wanted to do at that moment was do anything to cause him to think ill of her.  With a loud grunt Faith hopped up onto one of the stools and inspected her feet.  Cut and bleeding Faith set about removing the small glass shards and cement chunks that had embedded themselves in the underside of her foot, biting her bottom lip each time one of the shards or chunks struck a nerve.  Reaching behind the bar Faith grabbed the first bottle of liquor that she could get her bloody hands on and dabbed some of it on the bottoms of her feet, tears springing to her eyes at the sharp pain shooting through her feet as well as through her shredded hand.  Not knowing what else to do she could only come up with the brilliant idea to sit exactly how she was, legs crossed under her, on top of a stool at the bar and wait for Wesley.

*                          *                        *                        *                    *                        *

"Okay everyone listen up, this is important," Giles called out with a nervous feeling in his stomach even though he outwardly portrayed nothing of his inner war to the potentials staring fearfully at him.  The news of Faith's bloody exit had demoralized the potentials far worse than Giles had feared.  Vi was openly sobbing into Xander's chest as the carpenter did everything that he could to calm her down, but to no avail.  The usually confidant Rhona wouldn't look anyone in the eye while Amanda seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown as for the last hour nothing coherent had come out of her mouth. Unlike her usual could careless attitude Kennedy had been quiet ever since she had revealed Faith's dark secrets, choosing to sit at the counter and sharpen whatever weapons needed sharpening than talk to anyone.

"Why…what's the use, with both slayers gone we're nothing but sitting ducks for the First, we're all going to die…," Vi moaned with a defeated look on her face before she resumed sobbing into Xander's chest.

"We're not all going to die Vi, we'll think of something," Willow said with a nervous smile on her face even though her tone of voice was meant to be reassuring.

*                        *                       *                        *                     *                   *

Angel tore through the streets of Sunnydale, caring little for the rundown condition of the town around him.  More than once he took a corner a bit too fast and nearly spun the car out.  By the time that they got to the downtown district, thus forcing Angel to slow down Wesley's knuckles were almost white from trying to keep himself from being smashed into the door in the middle of one of Angel's almost kamikaze turns.  They almost had trouble picking The Bronze out from the other buildings in the area but Angel let off of the gas and slammed the car to a halt in front of The Bronze.

"What is it, Angel…," Wesley asked with a worried look on his face as he turned to Angel while he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Blood…Faith's blood," Angel replied softly after staying softly for several moments, desperately hoping that he was wrong.

"Damn," Wesley growled with an angry expression on his face as he threw open the door and got out, standing around in the rain looking frantically for any sign of Faith.

"Calm down Wes…the scent isn't that strong, maybe the blood is from something benign, like a paper cut," Angel offered up with a forced smile of optimism on his face as he also got out and turned to his old friend.

"Don't delude yourself Angel, more than likely the rain washed away most of the blood long before we got here," Wesley replied with a very serious and unhappy frown on his face before he slammed the door shut and sulked off towards the sidewalk.

"Are you ready for this," Angel asked with a concerned look on his face as he pulled his coat back and pulled out a dagger that he had remembered to pick up on the way out of the office.

"Faith's in trouble so I have to be," Wesley remarked with an almost cold look on his face before he pulled out a handgun that Angel hadn't noticed him having and pushed the front door open, leaving just enough room for Angel to squeeze in behind him.

"Be careful Wesley, we don't know what's in here other than Faith," Angel stated with a concerned look on his face before Wesley interrupted.

"Oh my…," Wesley gasped with a shocked and worried tone to his voice before he rushed towards the bar.  

"Wes what…oh," Angel started to ask with a confused look on his face before he caught site of Faith swaying back and forth on the top of a stool by the bar.  The formerly rogue slayer sat perched up on the stool like a canary in its cage, except that she had her knees bent and her still bleeding feet sticking out to either side.  As he neared Wesley's heart sank at the sight of Faith's bloody right hand being held in such a limp and protective fashion.

"Faith," Wesley shouted with a panicked edge to his face as he rushed forward and knelt down, catching Faith in his arms as she woke up and lost her balance.

"Wes…," Faith mumbled softly with a confused and somewhat and eerily scared tone to her voice as she fought to open her eyes.

"It's okay Faith…we're here now," Wesley blurted out in a rush before he did his best to help Faith sit up, although he kept his arms firmly around the slayer as Faith was trying to stop her head from swimming and the room from spinning.

"We…," Faith muttered softly as her mind had yet to fully clear and she wasn't sure that she had heard Wesley right.

"I'm here to Faith…," Angel interjected with a very worried look on his face as he reached in and laid a hand on Faith's shoulder so that she'd know for certain that she wasn't hearing voices.

"Where…where am I…," Faith mumbled again before Wesley surprised Angel by scooping Faith up into his arms and off of the floor. 

"We have to get her out of here and her injuries dressed," Wesley stated with a commanding tone of voice as he headed out of the Bronze and started to use his foot to kick open the door.

"Wait, here let me," Angel exclaimed with a nervous and worried look on his face as he rushed up to Wesley and carefully held the door open to let Wesley carry Faith out of the Bronze.  

A half an hour later found Wesley and Angel setting Faith down on the largest bed in Sunnydale hospital that they could find.  Wesley had started to go off in search of supplies but when he had done so Faith had reached out and gripped his hand with a death grip, refusing to let go.  Wesley had been about to say something when Angel had softly coughed his advice for Wesley to stay there with Faith while he, Angel, went off in search of the supplies.

"Wes…," Faith mumbled weakly as a lone tear slid out of her eye and across the bridge of her nose, almost instantly Wesley reached out and gently wiped it away.

"I'm here Faith, I didn't go anywhere," Wesley whispered softly with a grave look of concern on his face before Faith was able to open up her eyes enough to get a good look at Wesley.

"Where's Angel," Faith asked with a confused look on her face as she half glanced around the room before returning her grateful gaze to Wesley.

"He went to find some supplies to patch up your wounds, stay still and…," Wesley replied with an awkward stillness between them that Faith soon shattered.

"Don't worry about me Wes…slayer healing n' all," Faith mumbled out with a terribly see through look of pride on her face before Wesley reached out and ran his right thumb against Faith's cheek.

"Doesn't work that way Faith, while your body does heal quickly it still needs the help of the wounds being cleaned and properly dressed to do its work, hence the worry," Wesley replied with a sincere and determined look on his face as he looked straight into Faith's eyes and she looked straight back at him.

"This all part of the watcher handbook…baby the injured slayer while she's too weak to kick your ass for being so compassionate," Faith asked with a joking smirk on her face before she coughed and began to shiver a bit.

"Everyone is deserving of compassion Faith…some arguably more than others," Wesley replied with a sympathetic and sincere smile on his face before Faith shivered again.

"Except murdering backstabbing whores like me…," Faith shot back with a very self deprecating edge to her voice before Wesley jumped up out of his chair.

"Stop that right now Faith…you're not a whore…you didn't…," Wesley stammered out with an angry scowl on his face as he tried to keep his temper under control and this thinking clear.

"What makes you think…I didn't…from time to time…," Faith started to joke back with a weak version of her usual proud smile before her teeth began to chatter and her shivers intensified.

"Faith…Angel…," Wesley shouted with a panicked look on his face as he stared at Faith before he shouted back at Angel over his shoulder.

"Cold, so…cold," Faith chattered out with an uncomfortable look on her face as she wrapped her arms around her body and started to curl up into a ball.

"Faith no, stay with me here…," Wesley exclaimed with a very worried look on his face as he climbed up onto the bed with Faith and pulled her into his arms, hoping that his body heat would help warm her up.  After some time in this position Wesley thought that Faith had silently slipped back into unconsciousness, but changed his mind when he heard the faint sounds of her crying and a sniffle.  "Faith…," Wesley whispered softly with a deep amount of concern in his voice as he pulled the hair away from Faith's face and wiped away a few of the tears.

"I'm here…Wes…," Faith whispered back just as softly while keeping in her same position as she swallowed hard and sniffled again.

"Yeah," Wesley replied with a nervous tint to his voice as he placed his free hand under her chin and brought her gaze up to meet his.  

"I'm glad you're here…," Faith said with a soft and appreciative smile, one Wesley would later admit to Angel as being quite possibly the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen, on her face before she lowered her head onto Wesley's chest and almost instantly fell asleep.

"I'm glad I'm here to," Wesley whispered back extra softly as he tried to fight back the tears before he pulled Faith a bit closer and kissed the top of her head.  A few minutes later Angel returned with three bags full of supplies, only to discover Faith wrapped in Wesley's embrace, with the formerly rogue slayer's head laying directly over Wesley's heart, as the ex-watcher slumbered along peacefully, and as serene and calm of a look on her face as Angel could ever remember being witness to.  He was about to turn away and leave the two in peace to call back to LA and appraise Gunn on the situation when a flash of light caught his eye.  Silently stepping closer Angel located the source of the flash of light, smiling softly and almost contently as his gaze fell onto a St. Jude's medal that was clutched tightly, along with a good amount of Wesley's shirt, in Faith's left hand.

*                        *                        *                            *                       *                       *

"Anything yet," Buffy asked with a concerned look on her face as she zipped up her vest and looked across the aisle at Gunn, who sat opposite her in the back of the helicopter.

"Nothing yet," Gunn replied with an unhappy frown on his face as he readjusted his microphone.

"Can't this bloody thing move any faster," Spike grumbled with an unhappy pout on his face as he adjusted the top band of his headphones so that it wouldn't mess up his hair.

"We're going as fast as we can Spike, it might go a little faster if you got out and pushed," Fred replied with a sarcastic smirk on her face as she checked the tightness of her seatbelt.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you pet," Spike shot back with a less than thrilled somber look on his face before Buffy joined in.

"Okay people…can we calm down now, this is getting us absolutely nowhere, Fred how far are we away from Sunnydale," Buffy stated with a frustrated and slightly scared look on her face as she held her hands up in between Spike and Fred.

"We're about fifteen minutes out right now, the convoy isn't having as much luck as we are, they're roughly thirty minutes out, we'd better hope that Angel and Wesley have everything under control," Fred answered with an unhappy and pessimistic pout on her face as she looked across the aisle to Buffy before turning her head and watching the ground pass by out the window.

"But where are we going to land," Molly asked with a worried and a little bit scared look on her face as she hesitantly glanced out of the window before snapping her gaze back inside of the helicopter and back to Gunn.

"The hospital should have a landing pad on the roof, we'll land there, then we'll wait for the convoy and fan out and look for Wes and Angel after that," Gunn replied with a quick check of his watch before he signed on the dotted line on a paper clamped onto a clipboard and passed it back to the co-pilot.

"Do we have a battle plan or are we just going to be winging it," Spike asked with a less than pleased frown on his face before he took out a cigarette that he had hidden away from Buffy and placed it to his lips.  

"Of course they have a plan Spike…," Buffy interjected with a less than thrilled scowl on her face, one that Spike had to admit was his favorite Buffy scowl that made him want to do anything but fight, before she reached over, grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth and placed it in her own instead.

"Buffy…," Molly gasped with a shocked look on her face before Buffy pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit the cigarette, much to the shock of the rest of the group in the helicopter.

"What…I only live once right, well three times in my case but as I see it…slayer healing will compensate as long as I don't make a habit of it like you Spike," Buffy stated with at first a surprised look on her face then a sly smirk in between drags on the cigarette.

"Since when did you…," Spike asked with a confused cocking of his eyebrow as he turned to Buffy and smiled.

"Last summer…after you…left," Buffy stammered out with a sad and almost scared look on her face as she cast her eyes downward.

"Sorry…," Spike whispered back with a self loathing scowl on his face as he straightened back out and stared out of the window.

*                      *                          *                                *                        *                    *

"Do you really think that is going to work Will," Xander asked with a worried look on his face as he sat down in a chair beside Willow, who had spread a map of Sunnydale out on the floor in front of her and sat assembling the components that she would need to cast the spell.

"No clue, but in case you haven't noticed we're kind of running out of options here Xander, I'll use the first spell to find Faith…wherever she is, and the second to make her do whatever I tell her to," Willow replied with a brave smile on her face before she turned away from Xander and resumed her preparation.

"But the last time you cast that thy will be done spell I became a demon magnet…literally I might add, Giles went blind, and let's not even go into what happened to Buffy and Spike…," Xander trailed off with a less than enthusiastic frown on his face as he got up out of his chair and knelt down beside Willow.

"I won't let it get out of control again Xander, I can't…," Willow started to firmly state back to her old friend before she seemingly lost a great deal of her resolve and she turned away, letting her voice trail off in the process.

"Shouldn't we send a team to the high school to Giles, it won't take all of us to bring Faith back here, not once Willow casts her second spell, and we haven't heard a peep from the First in awhile…who knows what it's been planning all of this time," Robin asked softly with a concerned look on his face as he turned his gaze from Xander and Willow in the living room to Giles standing at the foot of the stairs with a sword in his hands.

"That might not be such a bad idea…however if we were to do that we'd need to make sure that whoever we put in charge of the group going to the high school was aware that their only objective was to get information on the First and its recent activities and get everyone back here in one piece, the last thing that we need is…," Giles stated firmly with a far off look in his eyes as he walked into the kitchen with Robin following closely behind.

"To lose anyone else…," Kennedy finished for him with a very serious expression on her face as she was tying her hair back into a tight ponytail.

"I…I'm not going to the high school…," Vi stuttered out with a scared look on her face as she took a step back away from Kennedy and the weapons.

"I'm not asking you to Vi, no one has to go to the high school that doesn't want to, it's going to be an entirely voluntary group," Giles replied with a hopefully reassuring tone to his voice as he smiled down at Vi, who seemed to try to squeeze herself into a crack in the wall.

"Good…so then who's going with me to the school," Kennedy stated with ready, willing, and able look on her face as she stood up, grabbed an axe and started off towards the doorway.

END OF CHAPTER 11


	12. In MemorumKelli's Surprise

REPRECUSSIONS  
  
Disclosure: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 12-IN MEMORUM—KELLI'S SURPRISE  
  
"There's the hospital," Buffy stated in between drags of her cigarette before Molly turned and gazed out of the window at the approaching building.  
  
"We'll set down on the roof and then gain access to the building through that door on the far right side of the roof," Gunn said with a very serious look on his face as he checked his watch one last time and turned to Fred.  
  
"Hopefully we won't have too much trouble locating Angel and Wesley," Fred added with an almost pessimistic frown on her face before she took a deep breath and braced herself as the helicopter began its vertical descent to the landing pad.  
  
"I just hope that we don't run into any of them...I don't know how I'll...," Buffy stammered out slowly with an unsure frown on her face before she leaned down and smashed the cigarette against the floor of the helicopter.  
  
"You'll think of something luv, you always do...," Spike stated with a reassuring expression on his face before the helicopter came to a complete stop and he threw the door open and hopped out.  
  
Angel was busying himself with perusing the different trauma and exam rooms when an odd sound caught his attention. At first he put off the sound as his imagination playing tricks on him given his nervous state. But when he heard the sound again, as he was intently studying a discarded clipboard, Angel dropped everything and rushed back out into the hallway. He heard the sound several more times as he sped back to the room that he had left Wesley and Faith in. He burst through the doors and was about to sound the alarm when Faith looked up and eyed him with a half asleep look on her face. "Faith...," Angel whispered loudly with a very concerned look on his face as he rushed up to the side of the bed and looked down at the half asleep slayer in the arms of her former watcher.  
  
"Not now Angel...comfy," Faith mumbled back softly with a content smile on her face as she made a meager attempt to wave him off, with her hand ending up on Wesley's right arm, holding on as if for dear life.  
  
"Faith...this isn't the time for you to be your usual bitchy self, someone's here...," Angel grumbled softly under his breath with a bit of venom in his tone as he pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed, intent on forcing Faith to wake up.  
  
"So...," Faith mumbled back in reply before she sniffled a bit and winced slightly as her still somewhat tender right hand hit the edge of Wesley's sleeve.  
  
"Fine Faith, you wanna do things the hard way...," Angel muttered with an annoyed frown on his face before he stood up, kicked the chair away and grabbed a hold of one side of the bed. With a slight snicker Angel shrugged his shoulders and overturned the bed, unceremoniously dumping Wesley and Faith onto the floor.  
  
"Hey," Faith growled with an angry edge to her voice as she furiously flailed around until the bed was cast aside. Wesley yawned deeply and blinked his eyes several times before he focused his gaze up at Angel.  
  
"Angel, what are you...why are we on the floor," Wesley started to ask with a confused look on his face before he realized where he was.  
  
"Because Angel's being an ass and wouldn't let us sleep that's why," Faith answered grimly with an unhappy scowl on her face as she slowly made her way back to her feet before she turned to help Wesley up.  
  
"Hmpf...that sounds about right," Wesley snorted with a not very amused look on his face as he dusted himself off and lightly glared at Angel while giving Faith a sly smirk.  
  
"Okay people, could we please stick to the task at hand here...wait, someone's coming," Angel started to argue with an angry scowl on his face before he caught the scent of gun oil in the air and instantly dashed over and shut the lights out. Faith started to hurry off to one side of the room but stumbled and finally fell to her knees, cursing like a sailor the entire time, as she quickly found that her feet hadn't fully healed yet. Forgetting for a moment the possible threat rushing towards them Wesley abandoned his place behind the bed and rushed to Faith's side, but in the dark he misjudged Faith's exact location and nearly bowled her over.  
  
"Hey...God Wes, you sure don't waste any time do you...what no first date, candy...," Faith joked through a slightly pained smirk as she felt Wesley's hand on her back before she turned around and sat down so that she was facing Wesley.  
  
"Would you two shut up," Angel growled angrily under his breath as he cast Faith and Wesley a death look, one that neither could see through the darkness, before he turned his attention back to the door as a number of people burst through the doors. In an instant Angel leapt into action.  
  
Kennedy crept over the overturned desks as she tried to find any trace of what the First was planning. Xander and Anya followed closely behind with the carpenter tightly gripping a shiny new axe and Anya looking like she didn't fully understand the concept of being stealthy as she walked upright and would point out the flaw in anything that she saw littered about. Willow had tried to get Vi to accompany the group to the school while she went to the hospital to retrieve Faith but the extremely distraught potential had only begun sobbing uncontrollably and rushed out of the room.  
  
"This is getting us nowhere," Rhona declared with an unhappy frown on her face as she stopped sifting through a pile of rubble in the corner and stood up.  
  
"Finally...," Anya moaned with a relieved look of exasperation on her face as she stopped walking and slipped into the only chair left standing in the room.  
  
"What...we can't stop now, maybe we should check out the gym, or maybe the science room," Kennedy stated with a surprised and somewhat angry pout on her face as she turned around and then glared at Anya.  
  
"We've been through half this place and haven't found anything out except that someone named Renee is pregnant and that Billy cheated on his Algebra test," Rhona replied with a bored groan as she leaned back up against the wall and crossed her arms.  
  
"I hate to say this Dee...but I half to agree with Rhona, maybe we should go back to Buf...Revello drive and rethink this...," Xander stammered out with a guilty look on his face before he collected himself and turned to Kennedy.  
  
"No Xander, we're not going back yet, any of us, we're not going back until we've found something concrete," Kennedy firmly said with a nervous look of anger on her face before two clawed arms shot through the wall behind Rhona, wrapped themselves tightly around the frightened potential and pulled her back through the wall.  
  
"Does that count," Anya asked with a calm look on her face as she crossed her legs and turned her head towards Kennedy, not moving a muscle as Kennedy and Xander rushed out of the room.  
  
"Anyone have any idea where Faith is," Andrew asked with a bored and scared look on his face as he reluctantly followed Willow towards the hospitals front doors.  
  
"For the hundredth time Andrew...no, all that we know is that she's in there somewhere and we have to find her," Robin answered with an aggravated roll of his eyes before he silently wondered if he shouldn't just take the nerd aside and introduce him to the business end of the axe in his left hand.  
  
"But I thought I saw a helicopter on the roof...," Andrew pleaded with a frustrated expression on his face as he craned his neck back in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the helicopter on the roof that he could have sworn that he had noticed earlier.  
  
"Didn't you also think that you saw a herd of pink antelope run through the kitchen yesterday...," Dawn asked as she tried to use humor to calm her overly frayed nerves. Ever since Faith had left Dawn had put on a brave face and walked through the house, saying words of inspiration and hope, more than once making a promise that they'd all get through it, though not once letting herself actually believe any of it. But what she'd later only tell her husband on her deathbed was that she prayed that night for her own death, a death that she felt that she deserved fully for turning on her own sister after everything that Buffy had done for her.  
  
"Okay...so that wasn't true, but I really do think that there's a helicopter on the roof, one of those cool black spy ones too," Andrew said with an eager smile on his face as he continued to defend his position even though everyone else had stopped listening to him by then.  
  
"Alright people listen up, Faith's in there somewhere and we have to find her, we're going to split up into teams of two and search the entire hospital until someone finds her, but remember, don't let her know that you're there until after I've cast the spell...otherwise she'll just run again...," Willow declared with a confidant look on her face as she looked each and every person standing in front of her in the eye before she turned around and headed into the hospital.  
  
"Angel," Buffy shouted with an angry and surprised look on her face as she bent over and pulled Spike back to a safe distance before putting herself in between them.  
  
"What the bloody hell were you thinking...," Spike spat out with a furious sneer on his face as had Buffy not been standing in between him and Angel he would have thrown a punch or two at his grandsire.  
  
"I...we were talking, and then you," Angel blurted out with a confused and well hidden look of embarrassment on his face as he slowly got back to his feet and turned back to Wesley and Faith, as the former shuffled out of his hiding spot and the latter limped out of hers, almost falling before reluctantly accepting an arm of support from Wesley.  
  
"Leapt out of the shadows and tackled the first person to enter the room," Fred interjected with a repressed smile on her face as the confused look on Angel's face shifted to one of more humility.  
  
"Heh...I didn't leap out of the shadows, more of a lunge really," Angel hypothesized softly to himself as he defended his actions to thin air almost as if no one else was in the room before Buffy cut in.  
  
"Faith...what are you doing here, why aren't you back at my...ground zero with the troops," Buffy interjected with a concerned look on her face as she shook her head and walked away from Spike and Angel and towards the bed.  
  
"I jumped ship...," Faith replied with her best cocky smile as she hobbled back to the bed and winced as her right hand bumped the edge of the sheet.  
  
"You jumped ship...why, they made you king," Buffy wondered with a confused look on her face as she stepped a step closer to the bed and stuck her left hand into the pocket of her jeans to hide the lighter hidden there.  
  
"Or in this case...queen," Spike offered with a bored frown on his face as he held up his index finger to further accentuate the point.  
  
"I...told Kennedy, about everything...," Faith stammered out slowly, at first keeping her gaze locked onto her injured hand, before she turned her head to half look up at Wesley and then Angel.  
  
"Define everything...for those of us who have no clue what you're talking about," Gunn asked with a confused look on his face as he noticed how upon Faith's words Wesley and Angel seemed to have become unmoving statues, staring off into space. Faith took in a sharp breath before she turned to Gunn to give him a verbal smackdown but could only half open her mouth before her voice failed her.  
  
"She didn't, she wouldn't...," Angel stuttered with a concerned expression on his face as he solemnly trudged over to the bed and glanced down at Faith.  
  
"You told her not to, made her swear that she wouldn't...," Wesley said, almost in a whisper with an awestruck gleam of fear in his eyes, as he stared down at Faith's injured hand. Faith's only response was a meager nod of the dark slayers head. For several seconds everyone in the room stood as silent as time before the peace was shattered.  
  
"We got trouble people," Molly exclaimed with a frantic look of worry on her face as she raced into the room and had to stop and bend over to catch her breath.  
  
"What...trouble, Molly what is it," Wesley asked softly as he shook himself out of the trance that he had seemed to be in for the last few seconds.  
  
"We got company," Molly blurted out with a slightly pained look on her face before she straightened up and gestured, with her thumb, back down the hall towards the stairs.  
  
"Vampires, demons...what," Spike asked with a serious squinting of his eyes as he glanced back towards Buffy before finishing his question.  
  
"Nope, it's worse...," Molly replied with a scared look on her face as she shook her head and looked back out of the room.  
  
"Representatives of the major cosmetics company's," Spike asked with a dead on look of fear in his eyes before he furrowed his brows in confusion at the looks that everyone else in the room gave him.  
  
"Spike...go on Molly," Angel growled at first with an angry scowl sent Spike's way before his countenance changed and he smiled politely at Molly.  
  
"It's Mr. Wood and Willow and the others...they're in the lobby," Molly stated with a worried look on her face as she turned around and shut the doors behind her.  
  
"Damn...," Angel spat out with a nervous expression on his face before he turned to Faith and laid a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Should we stay here and meet with them or...," Fred asked with an uncertain look of worry on her face as she turned and looked up at Gunn.  
  
"There's a back staircase...we could use that, they'd never find it until we were long gone," Faith stuttered out with an uncomfortable grimace on her face as she half nodded her head back towards a double set of doors down the hallway.  
  
"Good enough for me, let's go," Angel hurriedly uttered with a half smirk on his face before Wesley immediately scooped Faith up in his arms and started off down the hall.  
  
"Did he...," Gunn asked softly with a confused look on his face as he turned to Angel, who merely shrugged his shoulders before he took off down the hall after Faith and Wesley.  
  
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Fred whispered softly with a confused look on her face before she hurriedly followed Gunn off down the hallway.  
  
"Why are we running, we should be standing our ground and...," Spike started to say with a confrontational slant to his body language before Buffy reached out and grabbed his arm.  
  
"We're here to stop the apocalypse Spike, not kill the people that we used to call friends," Buffy growled with a very stern and angry edge to her voice as she applied a fair amount of pressure in her grip.  
  
"But...," Spike began to protest with an unhappy pout on his face before Buffy shook her head and dragged him off down the hallway behind her, scythe firmly strapped to her back.  
  
"If we were going to run they should have just said that in the first place and saved all of that bloody babbling for later...," Molly grumbled with an angry pout on her face before she took in a deep breath and followed off down the hallway after the others.  
  
"Rhona," Kennedy shouted with a frantic expression on her face as she scrambled over the heaps of rubble and very nearly tumbled through the hole in the wall as Rhona continued to scream.  
  
"No wait," Xander cautioned with a terrified look on his face as he followed off after Kennedy.  
  
"Come on Anya...Rhona's in trouble," A soft voice called out from seemingly thin air, causing Anya to at first ignore the voice before she looked around and noticed that she was the only one left in the room.  
  
"Hey...who said that...," Anya asked with a confused and poorly hidden element of fear in her voice as she stood up and slowly spun around in a circle in a vain attempt to find the speaker behind the voice.  
  
"I did...now quit standing there like an idiot and get going you stupid woman, your friends need your help," The voice called out again, this time filled with a fair amount of scorn, before Anya shook her head and took off out of the room, not noticing the ghostly image of a long dead student hidden in the darkness in the corner.  
  
"Let her go...," Kennedy stated with a very firm and serious edge to her voice as she gripped her sword a bit tighter and pointed the end straight ahead, level with the ubervamps ugly face. In response the ubervamp only snarled back at her before a new player entered the fray.  
  
"My what do we have here...two unrepentant children that are late for Sunday mass," Caleb stated with an arrogant smirk on his face as he slowly made his way into the room, dipping his head to more easily facilitate his going through another hole in the wall.  
  
"Sunday...but it's Tuesday," Xander muttered softly to himself with a confused look on his face before Kennedy cut in.  
  
"Who are you...," Kennedy demanded more than asked with a somewhat scared look in her eyes as she unintentionally took a step backward as the man with the collar paced across the room.  
  
"Now now...such insolence, and from someone so young to...," Caleb taunted with a fair amount of vicious glee in his voice before he turned his gaze back towards the ubervamp and slowly nodded his head.  
  
"No...," Kennedy started to shout with her voice full of panic and pain before her voice was drowned out by Rhona's scream as the ubervamp merrily bit into her neck and drank deeply.  
  
"Did you guys hear something," Andrew asked with a nervous and scared look on his face as he hurried around the corner and lightly patted Robin on the shoulder.  
  
"No...now shut up," Robin angrily replied with a frustrated expression on his face as he continued to pace down the hallway, listening intently for any sound that didn't belong in the abandoned hospital.  
  
"Ya know I really thought that I heard something," Andrew continued undaunted with a serious smirk on his face before he took off down one of the darkened hallways, almost crashing into several beds left out in the process.  
  
"Wait...Andrew, come back here," Robin shouted with an angry scowl on his face before he kicked away an empty garbage can and took off down the hallway after the former nerd, leaving the scared potential all by herself.  
  
"Uh...hello," Kelli asked with a nervous and scared look on her face as she held the stake tightly in her hands and frantically searched the darkness surrounding her for any sign of danger. She backed up a few steps before she felt a stinging pain in her neck, seconds later she was out like a light.  
  
"Who's the civilian...," A husky voice asked with a serious and nervous edge to his voice as he stood over Kelli and kept her in his sights.  
  
"It doesn't matter, this entire city has officially been deemed off limits for civilians...," Riley answered with a stern look on his face before he cocked an eyebrow and stared down at the young girl lying unconscious on the floor in front of him, still tightly clutching the stake.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 12 


	13. Giving In To One's Desires

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 13-GIVING IN TO ONE'S DESIRES**

With all rational and self preserving thought shattered in her mind Kennedy threw herself at Caleb, the point of her sword aimed directly at his heart.  Caleb only intensified the almost giddy smirk on his face before he snapped out his hand and wrapped it around the sword, stopping the point scarcely an inch from his chest.  The force of the abrupt and sudden stopping of her assault left Kennedy with little time to react, as the sword's hilt was thereby driven back into her nose, breaking it instantly in a torrent of blood.  At the release of blood the ubervamp dropped Rhona's lifeless body to the ground and growled hungrily. 

"Kennedy no," Xander shouted with an extremely panicked edge to his voice as he couldn't help himself and ran to Kennedy's side, dragging the potential away as she feebly clutched her broken nose and moaned and groaned in pain.

"Well that was a stupid thing to do…now we're all going to die," Anya added with an impatient and somewhat hurt frown on her face before another ubervamp materialized out of the darkness behind her and slammed its fists into the small of her back. 

"Anya…," Xander shrieked in total fear as Anya was flung into the room, before her head crashed into the edge of a burnt desk and she slipped into the darkness.

"Can…can we stop, please…," Molly pleaded through what little breath she had left to her after she had raced through the halls and then down the stairs to try and catch up to Spike and Buffy and the others.  They had traveled down to the ground level and Angel reluctantly ordered a halt in the parking garage at the back of the hospital. 

"Alright Molly we'll stop, but just for a little while, Wesley…," Angel said with a nervous look on his face as he turned around and tried his best to smile at the young potential.

"She's almost back to full strength," Wesley answered, without looking back at Angel as he knelt down beside Faith, as he closely inspected Faith's right hand, slowly turning it over and over again in his hands.  Faith looked on with an uncomfortable pout on her face while she wiggled her toes and let out a held in breath as she felt virtually no pain from the act.

"Are you sure," Buffy asked in between deep breaths as beside her Spike jumped up onto the hood and then roof of one of the abandoned cars and kept watch.

"Five by five B…," Faith replied with a tired smile on her face before she turned her right hand a small bit and took a hold of Wesley's right hand, nodding with her head her want for him to pull her up to her feet.  After mulling it over for several seconds Wesley agreed and pulled Faith back up to her feet, smiling as the dark slayer wiggled her toes and took a few steps, all without wincing or doubling over in pain and agony.  "See, what'd I tell ya," Faith added with a proud and boastful grin on her face as she turned to Buffy.

"Any word on the convoy," Gunn asked softly as he turned away from Faith and laid his hand gently on Fred's shoulder.

"They've entered Sunnydale and are headed this way, e.t.a. ten minutes," Fred replied softly with a relieved smile on her face as she held her earpiece in her ear and listened to the convoy's transmissions.

"Good, once certain other parties leave the hospital we'll set up a perimeter and figure out exactly what we're dealing with here," Angel announced with a serious look on his face as he walked around the garage, checking every door that he came to.

"What do we do if they won't leave," Spike wondered with a slightly amused smirk on his face as he half turned to look back at Angel.

"Well we…," Angel started to reply with an unsure look of worry and concern on his face before Faith jumped in.

"We make them leave," Faith interjected with a confidant look on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to look like she had it all together again, although Spike chuckled a bit as he caught Faith sneaking a couple of peeks behind her to make sure that Wesley was still there.

"By any means necessary," Buffy added with an impatient scowl on her face as she pulled Spike down off of the car and pulled out the scythe.

"Huh, where…ow," Kelli started to mumbled with a scared look on her face, and her eyes tightly squinted shut, before her hand got to the point on her neck where the dart had struck her.

"Good you're awake," Riley stated with a less than thrilled furrowing of his brows as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Kelli.

"Yeah, what's so good…hey wait, let me go," Kelli started to reply with a smartass smirk on her face before she realized that her ankles were shackled together along with her wrists.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that, the city of Sunnydale is not safe for someone like you to be going out there all alone," Riley added with a hopefully sincere smile on his face as he twiddled his thumbs a bit.

"But I won't be all alone…I just have to find Robin," Kelli stated with an angry and frustrated look on her face as she strained to free herself from the restraints.

"Robin, the boy wonder…," Riley asked with a confused and slightly surprised look on his face as he sat back a bit in his chair.

"No…Robin Wood, I was supposed to stay close but…then he ran off after Andrew and…," Kelli answered with an angry scowl on her face as she tried once more to free herself, but stopped when she inadvertently scratched her wrist and grimaced.

"Why were you at the hospital," Riley asked as he pushed on even though Kelli looked a bit sickly after having stared at her wound for some time.

"None of your business…," Was Kelli's quick and angry reply as she looked around the room, hoping to find something to use to free herself.

"Anything concerning this town is my business, most of all a young woman like yourself sneaking through an abandoned hospital in the middle of the night," Riley stated plainly with a less than happy look on his face as he stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. 

"Hey, I wasn't sneaking, I was…looking for someone," Kelli exclaimed loudly as she clenched both hands into fists and threw her head back to throw some of her belt length purple hair off of her face.

"Is that so…and just who were you looking for," Riley asked politely with an almost joking smirk on his face before the smirk disappeared instantly at Kelli's reply.

"Our leader Faith…she's the vampire slayer," Kelli replied with a proud smile on her face before her countenance changed to a fearful expression as Riley then turned around and glared across the room at her, his right hand lying on top of his gun.

"Ooh…that looks like it hurts," Caleb taunted with a merry smirk on his face as he knelt down beside Anya and turned her head to the side, just enough to expose a small trickle of blood running down her forehead.

"Get away from her or else," Xander shouted angrily with an almost frantic look of terror on his face as he was torn between helping the bleeding Kennedy in his arms and rushing to Anya's side, fearful of the now two ubervamps in the vicinity and the sudden appearance of Caleb.

"Or else what…no my friend, I'm afraid that you're not in any place to be making empty threats…least of all when it's your girlfriends life that hangs in the balance," Caleb mocked with an arrogant smile on his face as he stood up and sat down on the edge of the desk, his hands down at his sides pushing some burnt papers away.

"I don't care what happens to me, but I'll be damned if I let you harm one hair on…," Xander began to say with a threatening glare on his face before he stopped awkwardly and trailed off as Caleb began to laugh.

"You'll be damned…that's a good one Mr. Harris, you're damned alright, you just don't know it yet, but it's not as if any of that is going to matter after these two are through with you," Caleb said in between chuckles as he stood back up and began to confidently pace around the room, making sure to keep Xander and the tearful Kennedy hanging on every word and gesture.

"Son of a…," Xander started to say hopefully as a threat before he was interrupted by a sea of bullets that tore through the ubervamp that had just clobbered Anya.

"Who dares to…," Caleb started to shout with a furious sneer on his face before several commando style soldiers rushed through the hole, followed closely behind by the last person that Xander thought that he'd ever see again.

"That would be me," Sam stated with a very firm and commanding edge to her voice as she strolled into the room and leveled her weapon at Caleb.

"See…I told you that someone was in here, this blood is still fresh," Andrew declared triumphantly with a pleased smile on his face as he held up a bundle of bloodied bandages to Robin.

"Wait…let me see that," Robin growled with an angry scowl on his face as he snatched the bundle of bloodied bandages out of Andrew's hands and studied it intensely. 

"So what do you think Kelli…Kelli," Andrew started to ask with a proud smile on his face as he turned away from Robin and leaned up against the hospital bed and crossed his arms.  Blinking a few times before he stood fully back up Andrew frantically began to look over the entire room. 

"Kelli…," Robin asked with a confused look on his face after realizing that he hadn't heard the purple haired slayer answer Andrew's question.

"Where's Kelli," Andrew asked with a sad pout on his face before he turned to Robin and looked at him with big and sad puppy dog eyes of worry.

"How should I know, you were supposed to be watching her…not fleeing down the hallways on a whim," Robin growled back sharply in reply with an angry expression on his face before Andrew quickly cut in.

"I was not…and I wasn't fleeing, I was hurrying, there's a difference," Andrew interjected with a defiant and grim look on his face as he balled his hands up into fists and glared back up at Robin.

"Whatever, we'd better go and find her…," Robin grumbled softly under his breath with a less than pleased look on his face and furrowed brows before he stormed back out of the room and down the hall with a skittish and now scared Andrew trailing behind.

"Picking up anything," Buffy whispered softly back to Spike as the two crept down a long darkened hallway.

"Nothing yet…but you're perfume is making it hard to concentrate," Spike replied with a slight snicker as he gently brushed some hair off of Buffy's neck.

"Stop it Spike, not now…I need you to focus on finding the others, not lusting after me," Buffy shot back with an impatient pout on her face as she slapped Spike's hand away even though a part of her rebelled mightily to the act.

"Fine…Dawn was here, Red to…," Spike mumbled back his reply with a somber look on his face as he hung his head a bit and leaned back up against the wall.

"Spike…," Buffy moaned with a slightly annoyed tint to her voice as she hated it when Spike took her words a little too seriously and descended into a funk that he could only have learned from Angel and then improved upon.

"Come on let's go," Spike stated very plainly with a frustrated pout on his face as he pushed off of the wall and walked past Buffy, who started to weakly reach out to pull him back and set him straight but she sighed halfway through and let her arm drop and fell into step behind Spike, hoping that she'd get a chance to talk to him soon.

"I should be out there Wes," Faith pleaded with an impatient pout on her face as she paced around the parking garage, arms crossed, acting as antsy as a penned up kender.

"Easy Faith, you haven't fully healed yet," Wesley replied calmly with an almost bored look on his face as he leaned back up against a stack of pallets and busied himself with checking and double checking that he had all of his weapons in easily accessible positions.

"So…you're here, you sure that you've fully healed yourself," Faith snapped back with an almost angry tone to her voice even though the look in her eyes relayed her fears about his health.

"As fully as you," Wesley replied softly with a somewhat hurt frown on his face as Faith had to dig her fingernails deeply into her biceps to keep from shooting a scathing remark back at Wesley.

"Whatever…why'd Angel leave you here to look after me anyway, doesn't he trust me enough to know that I'll stay here until he gets back," Faith groaned with an unhappy look on her face as she threw up her hands and turned away from Wesley.

"Probably because he knows that other than him I'm the only one that you'll be honest with and not completely blow off at your first opportunity," Wesley surmised with a half smirk on his face as he slid one of his guns back into its holster.  Faith glared menacingly at him for a few seconds, as if she were coming up with something evil to do to him, before she walked up to stand directly in front of him and smiled.

"And just what makes you think that you've got me pegged accurately, for all you know I could blow you off any second now and go off and help Angel," Faith asked with a sly grin on her face as she leaned forward towards Wesley.

"Because you've changed Faith, you're on the path to redemption…rocky as it may be, and aren't ready to jeopardize it over something so trivial as blowing me off," Wesley answered softly with a sly grin of his own as he leaned forward a bit and looked down at Faith.

"You sound pretty confidant there Wes…why are you so sure that I've changed, for all that you know I could be fooling you right now…," Faith let her voice trail off with a daring look in her eyes as she took a step closer to Wesley and tried her best to calm her nerves.

"Because if you were the same old Faith then you would never be caught dead doing…," Wesley started to reply with a very softly serious look on his face before it happened. 

At first Faith's lips softly brushed up against his, after neither fully realized how close they had become, before Faith glanced up into his eyes in a search for permission.  With a slight shiver Faith took the look in Wesley's eyes as granting permission and she started to pull Wesley close to kiss him but was surprised when her actions were preempted by Wesley pulling her lips to his.  After snapping Faith's tongue with his own Wesley started to slowly pull away, giving Faith time to think things over and push him away and verbally slam him if she felt like it.  However Wesley never got very far before Faith wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down into a bruising kiss that she thrilled at as she soon felt the kiss being returned with a force equal to hers.  Neither noticed a befuddled Lorne as he unceremoniously entered the parking garage and looked around.  Both were so enthralled in the kiss that they didn't notice Lorne nearly beginning to tear up at the vibes emanating from them before he remembered his mission and took off to find Angel, hoping that the special ops units behind him stayed in there jeeps and didn't disturb the happy scene.

"This is spooky, like Silence Of The Lambs spooky," Dawn whispered to Willow with a timid look on her face and eyes wide.

"Huh, I thought that you were to young for that movie," Willow replied with a slightly confused look on her face as she half turned back to Dawn as she continued to set out the spell components that she'd need to cast the Thy Will Be Done spell.

"It is…but I rented it one night while Buffy was busy tracking some slimy demon down," Dawn said with a proud smile on her face as she puffed her chest out slightly and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Did she ever find out about it," Willow asked softly as she tried to keep Dawn, and herself, from getting to emotional about their current state of affairs with Buffy.

"Of course not…by the time that she got back she was so tired and stinky that she just took a shower and went to bed, mumbling something vague about Spike…," Dawn started to reply with a half smile on her face before two twin tears slid down her cheeks and she sniffled a bit before her voice faltered and she sat down in the corner of the room and pulled her knees up under her chin in a vain attempt to keep from sobbing outright.

"Really, did she say anything about…Dawnie, oh…," Willow started to ask with an interested tone to her voice before she heard Dawn crying and stopped preparing the spell and walked over and knelt down in front of the former key.

"How could we…could I, after she…," Dawn started to get out before she lost her fragile grip on her emotions and she didn't resist when Willow pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"We all made mistakes Dawnie, hopefully when this is all over we'll get a chance to," Willow said with a soft and hopefully soothing tone to her voice before Dawn pulled back and cut in.

"Get a chance to what…hope and pray that she doesn't hate us, what if when this is all over she doesn't want to come back…I don't, she can't, she has to come back…she has to," Dawn interjected at first with a clear voice before it began to falter considerably and by the end she was babbling almost incoherently. 

"I'm sure she will Dawnie…," Willow replied softly as she hoped that her words reassured the younger Summers sister, even though if she was being completely honest with herself she would have admitted that she was trying to convince herself every bit as much as Dawn.  As Dawn continued sobbing Willow tried to stay strong but after a few moments she found herself wiping away her own tears.

Ever since their earlier tiff in the hallway Spike had stayed almost as silent as a church mouse, a fact that both unnerved and scared Buffy to no end.  She understood his frustration and anger at her curt reply earlier but they had been doing important work at the time and a quickie was simply not in the plans, not that the thought didn't appeal to her.  When they finally stopped moving Buffy had opened her mouth to try to talk to Spike about what had happened earlier but he took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it with another lighter and sulked off to stare out at the eerily empty city through the waiting rooms windows.  With a sad and worried pout Buffy plopped down into the plush seat behind the nurse's desk, drawing out her own cigarette and using the lighter that she had kept hidden from Angel to light it, hoping that it would be able to calm her nerves.

"Come on Spike, enough with the five year old routine, talk to me…please," Buffy pleaded softly with a fair amount of regret in her voice before she put the cigarette back between her lips and inhaled deeply.

"Thought you didn't want to talk to me," Spike mumbled softly back in reply after several agonizingly silent moments.

"What, I never said that, I just didn't think that this was any time for a quickie, no matter how much we both want it," Buffy quickly declared with a serious and somewhat shocked look on her face as she got back up to her feet and made her way out into the waiting room as she blew out a large puff of smoke.  As she finished speaking Buffy couldn't help but smile at how Spike's right eyebrow curled up in subtle confusion as he half turned back around to look at her.

"I hear you saying it but…," Spike said softly with a sad pout on his face as he turned away from the window and leaned back up against it, staring not at Buffy but instead at a discarded magazine left out on one of the chairs.

"Spike stop it, I want you to listen to me right now and forget every single one of your misgivings and hang-ups about our relationship…the reason that I didn't want to…go at it right there in the hallway, was because we're going to have plenty of time to do it later…over and over and over and over and…," Buffy said with a very forceful and serious expression on her face as she slowly walked up to Spike and took in and then exhaled another lungful of smoke along the way before a sly grin crept upon her face at the end of her short speech to Spike.

"What if Angel," Spike started to mumble back with an uncertain look on his face as he dropped his cigarette to the floor and stomped it out with the toe of his boot.

"Fuck Angel…," Buffy growled with an angry and fed up scowl on her face before she tossed her cigarette away and pressed herself hard up against Spike, nearly driving him into the wall, before she devoured his mouth with her own, letting first her hands roam where they may and then allowing his to do the same, with one hand slipping underneath the hem of her shirt and traveling upwards while the other slipped in between her jeans and her panties and gave her butt a good squeeze.  Soon the only thing keeping the two on their feet was the sturdiness of the wall.  Mere moments later Spike and Buffy cast their inhibitions to the wind and gave themselves over to their desires as they collapsed to the floor, with their clothes flying off faster than a twister.  They barely avoided being seen by Andrew as he peeked his head into the waiting room because he thought that he had heard a noise.  With a nervous shrug of his shoulders the former nerd shook his head and followed off down the hallway after Robin.

END OF CHAPTER 13


	14. Comings And Goings

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 14-COMINGS AND GOINGS…**

"Uh Spike," Buffy whispered softly with a nervous look of uncertainty on her face as she traced hearts with her index finger over Spike's lifeless heart.

"Yeah pet," Spike softly whispered back with a content smile on his face as he pulled Buffy a bit closer and gently ran his thumb along Buffy's upper stomach, just below her bottom rib.

"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, because that was…great…but we need to get back to looking for the others…besides, I think I'm laying on my belt buckle," Buffy replied with at first a bit of hesitation in her voice before a smile of pure ecstasy crossed briefly across her face, followed up by an uncomfortable pout.

"Sorry," Spike apologized with a sincere smile on his face as he let go of Buffy and she sat up and slid her belt out from underneath her right thigh, scowling at the slightly red indentation mark left behind.

"Forget about it, you're not responsible for the actions of inanimate objects…at least not unless you've gained some power on top of being able to…," Buffy started to reply with a deep in thought pout on her face, one that slipped into an aroused smirk for a few short seconds and then she stopped and frantically began to look around with a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong, what are you looking for," Spike asked with a concerned edge to his voice as he propped himself up by his elbows and cocked his head slightly to one side.

"My bra…," Buffy quickly shot back with a nervous look on her face as she turned over and got up to her hands and knees as she pushed aside a broken chair in her efforts to find her missing piece of lingerie.

"What do you need that for…looks better on the floor than on you anyway…," Spike joked with a very enticing addition to his voice that made it hard for Buffy to concentrate on the task at hand.  To combat her desires Buffy crawled away from Spike and decided to look over near the window.

"I'm serious Spike, I just hope that it's still in one piece after you…," Buffy started to reply with a half hearted glare of anger back at Spike before a thrilled shiver pranced through her central nervous system as Spike snuck up beside her and began to trace a trail of kisses starting with her right shoulder blade before moving up her back and finally to the nape of her neck.  Buffy had to cobble together all of her willpower to force her eyes back to their normal pattern of blinking before it all came undone.  "Fuck," Buffy cursed angrily with a very unhappy grimace on her face.

"That's the spirit pet…you're even starting to sound like me, must say that…," Spike added with a playful lick of the back of Buffy's right ear before she reached out and took a hold of his right arm, squeezing tightly enough to leave Spike with little doubt that playtime was over.  "What is it," Spike ask now with a stone cold look of seriousness on his face as he stopped kissing Buffy's neck and cupped her face with one hand and turned it slightly so that he was looking her in the eye.

"Willow and the others just got trumped as our biggest problem…look," Buffy replied with a frustrated and skittish look on her face as she turned her head back to the window and pointed down at the parking lot below.

"Bloody hell…can't we ever get away from that guy, he's worse than…," Spike exclaimed with a very unhappy sneer on his face before he rolled over and grabbed his jeans off of the leg of a slightly burnt table.

"We'd better go tell Angel, he's not going to like this…the Initiative is all that we need right now," Buffy groaned with a woe is me look on her face as she threw her head back, closed her eyes, and shook her head.

"How did you know where to find us," Xander asked with a grateful but still wary slant to his voice as he grabbed the hum-vee's door to keep himself from being flung across the back of the vehicle and smashing into anyone.

"We scanned the building for heat signatures, you four were the only ones to come up with normal ninety eight point six temps, so we entered and luckily for you found the right room in time," Sam replied with a nervous sigh as she checked her watch and glanced back out of the window.  After their rescue from the school Sam and the other Initiative soldiers had quickly hurried Xander, Anya, and Kennedy out into the night, not telling them where they were going.

"Not in time for poor Rhona," Anya joked with a very sad smile on her face as she glanced ahead at the hum-vee in front of them, the one with a body bag containing the dead slayers body firmly tied down in back.

"Unfortunately no…but tell me, what were those things, I've never seen anything like them before, and who was that preacher, he sure didn't look like the Sunday morning orator to me," Sam stated sadly at first before she turned away from Anya and looked back to Xander, singling him out to be the leader of the trio in her eyes.

"Don't know about preacher man, but those things were what we've affectionately begun to refer to as ubervamps, long story short is that they're pure vampires, no humanity in them, at least that's what Giles said…," Xander replied with a nervous and somewhat worried look on his face as he leaned back in his seat and laid his hand softly on Anya's shoulder while Kennedy sat next to Sam, curled up onto the seat with her injured nose covered up by both hands and a sad and somber look on her face as she stared out of the dirty window. 

"Then we have a very big problem, units have spotted these…ubervamps, all over the city, unfortunately for us in groups, sometimes as many as fifteen to twenty," Sam stated with a very matter of fact look of concern on her face as she shook her head, not wanting to see the stares of shock and fear on the other faces around her.

"Where are you taking me," Kelli exclaimed with an indignant scowl on her face as one of the guards behind her prodded her forward with the tip of his gun.

"Where else, to find your friends," Riley replied with a carefree smirk on his face, one that got a mean glare from Kelli, before he stopped momentarily to lean through an open doorway and peer around inside.

"And then what, use me as a human shield…," Kelli started to shout with an angry expression on her face before both of the guards behind her grinned in amusement.

"That's the plan," One of the guards stated with an excited tone to his voice as it was easy to see that he was looking forward to the confrontation that was inevitably on the horizon.

"We're going to use as whatever we need until we find out what's going on here," Riley added with only a slightly nervous wink Kelli's way before Kelli leaned down a bit and pushed open a door with her shoulder.

"You didn't believe me when I tried to explain things, what makes them so," Kelli asked with a concerned look on her face as she nervously scanned the hallway, looking for any means of escape.

"You'll see…now move," Riley responded with an impatient scowl on his face before he poked Kelli in the shoulder with the tip of his gun, almost causing her to stumble from the force of the impact.

"Sir," The foremost Wolfram and Hart soldier into the building shouted with a nervous look on his face as he snapped to attention and averted his eyes from the scene in front of him.  Wesley and Faith were still completely clothed but with one of Wesley's hands steadily moving up Faith's back under her shirt and one of her hands in a similar position it took the two a moment before realizing that there was someone else in the vicinity.  As if they had been shocked the two quickly jumped apart and were glad to only see one soldier staring oddly at them.

"Yes…," Wesley spat out, his face flushed deep red with embarrassment, as he desperately tried to collect himself while Faith looked away and adjusted her shirt.

"The convoy is ready outside, awaiting your orders," The soldier said with a salute aimed at Wesley before he cocked an eyebrow and his stare briefly turned towards Faith.

"Secure the building and then set up base camp, this is going to be our headquarters for the net few...," Wesley started to reply with a forced look of calm on his face as he walked toward the solder before he noticed that the soldier was still glancing over at Faith.

"And…what about her…sir," The soldier asked with a nervous expression on his face as he nodded his head towards Faith, with Wesley following his stare.

"Yeah…what about her, I mean me," Faith asked with a nervous edge to her voice that she hid well beneath an angry scowl and crossed arms.

"Take her to the military outfitter that we passed a few blocks back and let her have whatever she wants…whatever she wants, and then bring her back here and I'll take it from there, understand," Wesley added with a very serious and assertive tone to his voice as he glared down at the soldier.

"Yes sir…," The soldier stuttered in reply with a slightly scared look in his eyes before he escorted Faith out of the parking garage, but not before Faith could send and innuendo filled wink Wesley's way.

"You two seem to be getting along pretty well," Lilah purred with a daring smirk on her face as she walked out of the shadows behind Wesley.

"Lilah…what are you," Wesley exclaimed loudly at first at the shock of seeing his former lover somewhere other than the offices of Wolfram and Hart.

"Thought I'd take a walk…," Lilah joked back with an impish grin on her face, one that for a time Wesley had come to love, as she walked past Wesley to stare off into the distance at the doorway that Faith had walked out of only moments before.

"Quit playing games Lilah, what are you really doing here," Wesley growled out his question with an unhappy scowl on his face as he walked forward and made Lilah look at him.

"Keeping track of you Wes, I am your liaison with the senior partners after all," Lilah replied with a calm expression on her face as she stared right back at Wesley, almost daring him to find fault in her words.

"Senior Partners, what do they care about what's going on here in Sunnydale," Wesley asked with an impatient growl as he let go of Lilah and turned away, fighting the temptation to go for his guns.

"Does the word apocalypse ring any bells in that handsome head of yours Wesley, the senior partners don't want this apocalypse to be successful any more than you or Angel do," Lilah continued with an almost proud smile on her face as she turned away slightly and looked around the parking garage.

"Only because they don't want this apocalypse to underscore the one that they've been planning since almost the beginning of time…," Wesley spat back out at Lilah with an angry sneer on his face as he worked through his anger and laid the thumb of his right hand on the snap that held one of his guns in place.

"That'd be the one alright…see it's not so…," Lilah began to joke back with an excited smile on her face before her words were drowned out by the sound of gunfire outside.

"What was that…," Willow exclaimed with a fair amount of fear and worry in her voice as she looked up from her place by the circle that she had been making to cast the spell.

"S…sounded like," Dawn stammered out with an even more scared look on her face than she had possessed only moments earlier as she slowly crept out of the corner.

"Gunfire…and lots of it," Robin interjected with a very serious scowl on his face as he entered the room, leaving a heavily panting Andrew to give Willow and Dawn a half wave as he entered.

"Gunfire…but who, we didn't have any guns…," Willow questioned with a confused and worried look on her face as she stood up and turned to Robin.

"I don't know Willow, but on top of that we seem to have lost Kelli somewhere along the way," Robin replied with an unhappy look on his face as he looked first to Willow and then down at Dawn.

"Kelli…," Dawn mumbled with a somber pout on her face as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"She was right behind us…but then she was just…gone," Andrew stammered out in between deep breaths as the guilt in his voice was nearly palpable.

"We looked for her but couldn't find any trace of her…but it wasn't a total loss, we did find some recently used bandages in one of the trauma rooms, someone had been there…someone that was bleeding," Robin added with a serious expression on his face as he left Willow's side and went to the other set of doors in the room and looked through the small window.

"Faith…," Willow breathed out softly with a shocked and somewhat surprised look on her face as she stood up and turned back to Robin.

"It's probably a good bet that it was her…but from what I saw she didn't leave under her own power…she had help," Robin stated with a very grim look on his face as he walked back into the room, not noticing when his right shoe damaged the circle that Willow had been making on the floor.

"Angel…," Dawn answered with a very fearful look of worry on her face before she scrambled back into the corner that she had only recently come out of and let the tears flow once more.

"Damn…where are they…," Angel grumbled with an angry and nervous look on his face as he pushed open a set of double doors and pressed on into a new room.  During his search he had only found small traces of the presence of others in the hospital and an odd smell here and there.  After quickly searching this new room Angel was about to press on when a voice stopped him.

"Angel…," Lorne shouted with a pensive and somewhat scared look on his face as he shuffled through a long and dark hallway.

"Lorne…what, Lorne," Angel mumbled with a confused and surprised look on his face before he rushed out of the room and into the hallway, finally having to yell out the empath demon's name to get his attention.

"Whoa don't hurt me…oh Angelcakes, it's you," Lorne exclaimed loudly as he nearly came unglued before he calmed down and sent a light glare Angel's way.

"Yes it's me, what do you want Lorne," Angel asked with an unhappy scowl on his face as he tried his best to keep his temper in check knowing how fickle Lorne could be when pressured.

"Would it kill ya to be a bit nicer when sneaking up on people…ah forget it, anyway the convoy's in the parking lot awaiting your orders," Lorne asked at first with a slight shrug of his shoulders before he waved off his initial idea and relayed the information about the convoy.

"Good…get them set up in the parking garage for right now, I want this entire hospital searched…top to bottom, then they can get to work setting up a perimeter, the last thing that we need right now is for something to go wrong…," Angel replied with a commanding tone to his voice as he paced around the hallway before he and Lorne were forced to the floor as gunfire filled the hallway.

                                                                                                                        

"Come on Spike let's…wait," Buffy started to argue with an impatient scowl on her face before she got a peek of what was around the corner and swiftly pressed herself back up against the wall and forced Spike to do the same.

"What is it," Spike whispered harshly with a very serious look on his face before Buffy turned back to him and held her right index finger in front of her mouth in the universal gesture to shut up.  Seconds later Spike got all of the information that he required when the sound of military boots coupled with the smell of gun oil nervous humanity hit him.  Without making a noise Spike mouthed the word Initiative to Buffy, to which she nodded her head slowly before reaching for the scythe strapped to her back.  Wanting to have the advantage Spike crept around to kneel down directly in front of Buffy, planning to leap out at the two Initiative soldiers, seeing that both were carrying obviously live weapons and last time he checked Buffy would die if she got shot and he wouldn't.  Buffy seemingly sensed his intentions and gently touched him on the shoulder before smiling softly at him.  Buffy held her breath and made a silent prayer to a God that she wasn't even sure that she believed in as Spike leapt out from around the corner and pounced on the two soldiers.  Buffy bit her lip when she heard the sound of the gunfire exploding through the hallway and Spike's growls of pain.  With a hopeful look on her face Buffy hefted the scythe and rushed around the corner, prepared for anything.

The knuckles that rapped upon the door on Revello Drive were richly covered in blood, some of it human.  He had come into this fight rather late and feverishly begged and pleaded with his inner demons that he was not to late to affect the outcome.  Beside him stood a man that seemed at an eerie ease with the death and destruction that surrounded them both.  The young man had run across this odd man when he visited a club that he had only heard about, the Bronze.  The two had almost come to blows before a truce was forged once the older man learned of the name of the younger man's father.  After that the younger man had been astonished that the older man knew where to find the home of the angel that his father had spoken of so eloquently and lovingly to him as a baby.

"Don't answer the door…it could be vampires," Vi exclaimed with a very nervous and scared look on her face as she cringed down in her seat and looked away.

"Vampires don't use doors Vi…and unless they're invited in by someone that lives here they cannot enter so you're perfectly safe," Giles said softly as he tried his best to reassure the petrified potential before slowly turning the knob and opening the door.

"Hey Giles…long time no see, I see you're having another apocalypse…guess that means that the welcome home party's out of the question…," Oz stated with a warm smirk on his face before he patted Giles on the shoulder and walked into the house, his smile only widening at the site of the odd looks that he was getting from the scared potentials.

"Oz…what are you, wait a minute whoever you are, you can't just," Giles started to warmly greet Oz back before the young man started to walk through the doorway.

"It's okay Giles…he's a friend, but you're probably not going to believe who his father is…," Oz interjected with a concerned look on his face as he lightly scratched the inside of his left palm and waited for the inevitable.

"Who his father is…who is his father," Giles asked with an impatient expression on his face as he already didn't like the sound of Oz's words.

"Angelus…my name is Connor and I am the son of Angelus," Connor stated with a tone to his voice as if to say that he could care less before he strolled into the house, staring emptily at the confused potentials staring back at him.

END OF CHAPTER 14


	15. Pain Seems Eternal

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 15-PAIN SEEMS ETERNAL**

The vehicle finally came to a stop in an alley about a block away from the hospital.  Sam softly gave out the orders to the other Initiative soldiers before she turned back to Xander and paled a bit.  "Um…Xander, do you mind if I ask you a question, it could be construed as an overly personal question…but what's with the eye patch," Sam asked with a nervous look on her face as she tried to keep from staring at the eye patch.

"Oh this…well that preacher guy, Caleb…he kind of stuck his thumb…and," Xander replied with a sheepishly look of uncomfortable-ness on his face as he half gestured with his thumb towards his eye, not reveling when he saw the pale look on Sam's face.

"But now he looks even sexier…we can play pirates anytime that we want to," Anya chimed in with an optimistic look of zeal on her face before her frown turned upside down at the odd stares that Xander and Sam sent her way.

"That mwather fucker's gwanna pay…," Kennedy slurred out with a very angry and vindictive grimace on her face through the pain that she was in and the tears running down her cheeks.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here people; we don't even know who this Caleb person truly is, if we go into this halfcocked then your friend Rhona won't be the only one to die, and besides we need to get you to the infirmary to have a medic look at that nose of yours," Sam stated with a cautionary frown on her face as she turned and glanced over at Kennedy before turning back to Xander and Anya and continued the conversation.

"I don't understand how this happened…," Giles stammered out with a look of total disbelief and bewilderment on his face as he paced back and forth in the open space in the living room.

"Well ya see Giles…when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much they…ah heck who am I kidding…sperm met egg and as a result we have Connor," Oz said with a nervous look on his face as he caught the stares of some of the assembled potentials.

"Is my father here or not," Connor mumbled with an unhappy frown on his face before he became oddly fascinated with the design of the couch and looked away.

"I'm sorry Connor, but your father is not here at the moment," Giles replied with a somewhat sheepish smile on his face as he stopped for a moment before continuing to pace.

"Do you know when he'll be back," Oz asked with a slightly nervous frown on his face as he sat back in his seat and looked up at Giles.

"I'm afraid not, you see at present Angel and I…well those of us still remaining in this house anyway, aren't exactly on such good of terms," Giles answered with an unhappy and slightly nervous scowl on his face as he only half turned back to Oz and Connor.

"What do you mean…Giles…," Oz softly stammered out his question with a confused and uncomfortable expression on his face, guessing that he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"A few days ago…after a very unfortunate incident at the vineyard…the potentials and those others assembled took a vote and a decision was arrived at…," Giles stuttered out his reply with a concerned and slightly shamed look on his face before Connor cut in.

"I don't understand what you are saying," Connor stated with a confused look on his face as he pushed his bangs off of his forehead.

"We voted…Faith in, as our new leader, Buffy left that night and we haven't seen her but only for the briefest of instances since, right now I have no clue where Buffy is…Faith either for that matter, because the erstwhile slayer has flown the proverbial coop once more and last that we knew was at the abandoned hospital, Willow and the others went to retrieve her," Giles answered with an unhappy frown on his face as he walked over to the nearest open chair and sat back down.

"What the bloody hell is going on out there," Wesley exclaimed loudly with a demanding expression on his face before he pushed Lilah out of the way before she could get off a rebuttal and threw the door open.  The scene that the former watcher stumbled out into was one that could have only been described as hell, pure hell.  Almost immediately he threw himself to the ground, setting aside the pain of the bare skin of his palms meeting the unforgiving blacktop of the parking lot.  "Damn…," Wesley growled through gritted teeth as he raised his head up and found himself staring face to face with the stalled open eyes of the soldier that he had ordered to assist Faith.  "Faith," Wesley shouted at the top of his lungs as he began to pick himself up off of the ground before the hail of bullets flying back and forth overhead forced him back to the pavement.

"Wesley," Faith shouted over the din before she shoved one of the Wolfram and Hart guards out of the way and rolled over the shell of a burnt out tire and finally stopped when she came into contact with Wesley's left shoulder.

"What going on," Wesley asked with a confused look on his face as one hand went for one of his guns while the other came to rest on Faith's shoulder as she tapped into her slayer strength and pulled him out of harms way behind one of the barricades that the Wolfram and Hart guards had brought with them.

"I don't know, we barely got halfway across the parking lot before someone started shooting as us, we made it back here but only I was able to get behind the barricade in time," Faith replied with an only semi nervous look on her face as she balled her hands up into fists and tried to keep her temper under control.  Fighting vampires, demons, hell beasts came easy to Faith, but fighting against armed guards with guns was an entirely different matter.  Her slayer speed would only give her an edge for so long before one of her enemies got lucky and she'd be down for the count, forever.

"I don't recognize them either…but we're going to have to do something," Wesley stated with an unhappy scowl on his face as he strained to catch a good glimpse of their attackers while slipping both guns out of their holsters.

"No argument here Wes, but with all of their firepower I don't see how…," Faith started to reply with an angry and frustrated pout on her face before she was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass from high overhead.  The dark slayer and her watcher watched in both fascination and horror as two figures plummeted towards the ground.  The fall of the two figures were broken when they landed on several of the Initiative soldiers, knocking them out cold.

"Angel," Faith exclaimed with a shocked look on her face as she stood up and looked over the top of the barricade.

"Faith get down," Wesley shouted frantically as he jumped up, grabbed Faith's midsection, and dragged her back down, barely avoiding the hail of bullets that whizzed by where her head had been only moments before.

"But Wes, Angel…," Faith shot back with a frustrated look of concern on her face as she struggled a bit against Wesley's embrace.

"Can take care of himself and doesn't die when he gets shot, unlike you and I," Wesley stated with a firm tone to his voice as he tightened his hold on Faith's midsection and did his best to look her in the eye while speaking.

"But…," Faith started to mumble back before a glint of metal from above caught her eye and her head shot up.  "Oh fuck…Wes we have to…," Faith cursed angrily with an almost frantic tone to her voice before a shot rang out.

"Faith…," Wesley nearly screamed out as he dove overtop of Faith, gritted his teeth, and hoped for the best.  Within seconds the air was filled with two almost simultaneously sharp intakes of breath as the shot found its mark, slicing through the back of Wesley's left shoulder and finally tearing through Faith's right should before ricocheting off of the pavement.

Molly had at first chosen to accompany Fred and Gunn in their search through the hospital, but when she had stopped to check on something the two old friends had continued on, unaware of her absence.  She had tried in vain for several minutes to relocate them before she had heard the first burst of gunfire that she would later find out had driven Angel and Lorne to drop to the ground.  With a panicked look of fear on her face Molly spun on her heel and took off in the direction of the gunfire, hoping that her worst fears weren't about to be realized.

"Mr. Gunn…," Molly exclaimed with a very worried look on her face as she frantically shoved open a set of double doors and started off down the hallway, only to slam headfirst into a fellow potential.

"Hey," Kelli shouted with an angry sneer on her face as she sat up and would have tried to strangle Molly but her restraints kept her from doing anything more than floundering in her attempts to get back to her feet.

"Ow," Molly moaned with a pained wince as she softly rubbed the spot on her left temple where she was sure that she'd have a bruise by morning.  "Hey what's the big…," Molly started to growl angrily with an accusing sneer on her face before she looked up into the barrels of two guns aimed directly at her, with her eyes mimicking silver dollars in terms of their size.

"And you are…," Riley asked with an impatient scowl on his face as he half looked in Molly's direction and half looked in the direction of the gunfire.

"Molly…Molly Windholm," Molly stammered out with an innocent look of fear on her face as she tried her best to smile and look as non threatening as she could.

"Well Ms Windholm, today's your lucky day, we're only going to take you into our custody instead of kill you," Riley added with a slightly haughty smirk on his face as he took the safety off of his gun, leaving Molly to swallow hard and try not to panic.

"What the hell…I thought you were," Kelli started to exclaim with an angry look on her face before she fully realized who it was that she was talking to in the personage of another potential.

"I got better…," Molly quickly replied with a scared look on her face as she leaned back a bit and away from the barrels of the guns trained on her forehead.

"How fortunate for us…cuff her," Riley stated with an almost mocking smile on his face before he shrugged his shoulders and tossed a pair of restraints similar to those that Kelli wore to the Initiative soldier closest to Molly.

The Initiative soldiers never knew what hit them.  Buffy burst around the corner like a force of nature, her right foot nearly crushing one guard's windpipe before she flung herself to the ground as the other guard got off a few shots.  Spike used the diversion well as he gritted his teeth against the pain searing through his chest and connected with a kick the remaining guard's leg, smiling softly to himself as he heard the bone crack.  The two guards collapsed into completely disarray before Buffy was able to turn back to Spike and assess the situation.

"Spike…are you okay," Buffy called out with a hesitant and nervous look on her face as she helped Spike back up into a seated position before casting a wary eye back over her shoulder at the two guards, one of whom was still trying to catch his breath while the others attention was take up in softly moaning in pain over his broken leg.

"I've been better…," Spike mumbled with a pained smile on his face, before he coughed a bit, as part of his duster fell away from his body, revealing the many bloody wounds marring his chest and stomach.

"Oh my God," Buffy cried out with a scared look in her eye as she frantically began to scan the surrounding area, desperately hoping to find something to press onto the wounds.

"Wasn't fast enough…," Spike started to add with an almost sarcastic smirk on his face before he coughed up some more blood and fell into the onrushing darkness.

"Spike…," Buffy screamed with a terrified expression on her face as tears sprang down her cheeks before all power to the hospital was cut and the hallway went dark.

"Willow stay here with Dawn, Andrew and I will check this out," Robin stated with a nervous look on his face, even though his tone of voice hinted otherwise, as he pushed open one of the double doors.

"We…we will," Andrew stuttered out with an absolutely  petrified look on his face as his normally pasty complexion went as white as a sheet and for a moment Robin expected the formerly evil nerd to faint.

"Yes…we will, we need to buy Willow enough time to finish the spell and find out what's going on out there, besides we have to figure out what happened to Kelli," Robin stated plainly and forcefully with a very serious look on his face before reached out and grabbed Andrew's shoulder.

"Okay yeah but…," Was all that Andrew could get out before Robin had smiled over to Willow and drug him out of the room.

"What do we do if…," Dawn started to ask with a scared look on her face before she let her voice trail off.

"We hope that doesn't happen Dawnie, if I can get this spell off then we'll be all set, otherwise…," Willow interjected at first with an optimistic smile on her face as she walked across the room and sat down in the center of the circle that she had made.

"Otherwise we'll all die horrible painful deaths…," Dawn finished with a worried look on her face before the tears once more sprang down her cheeks.

"What's going on," Xander asked with a confused and concerned look on his face as he followed Sam out of the alley.

"I don't know, this shouldn't be happening," Sam replied with a concerned look on her face as she led Xander, Anya, and a still bloody Kennedy out of the alley and quickly behind a barricade as the bullets continued to fly overhead.  Hazarding a quick glance at their opposition Sam's gaze was met by a sight that would haunt her memories for decades to come.  Rising up out of the smoke and shattered glass a monster tore into any and all Initiative soldiers that stood in its path.

"Hey…don't we know him," Anya piped in with a cheerful smile on her face as she watched the monster continue to tear through the ranks of the Initiative soldiers, despite the stupefied look that Sam was casting her way.

"Anya what…oh hell, it's Angel," Xander started to ask with a confused and angry scowl on his face before he ducked his head above the barricade and recognized the monster.

"Nwat hwim agawn," Kennedy blurted out with a pained grimace on her face as she gently pushed tissues up each nostril to try to stop the flow of blood as best she could.  Sam puzzled at this and was about to pose a question when the monster turned and charged towards them.

"How many times do I have to tell people…I don't like getting shot, it hurts…," Angel growled with a very angry and frustrated sneer on his face as the next Initiative soldier that he came to panicked at the sight of him in full game face and hesitated, giving Angel the perfect opening.  With a half cocked smirk on his face Angel backhanded the soldier's weapon away before he slammed his right foot into the soldier's stomach, sending the man flying backwards through another window.

"Angel wait, stop please…," Xander blurted out with a sudden burst of courage as he stood up and rushed around the edge of the barricade and positioned himself in front of the mightily pissed off Angel.

"Why should I…you didn't stop when you kicked Buffy out…maybe I should return the favor, take your other eye perhaps," Angel growled with and angry scowl on his face as he reverted back to his human face, all the while forcing the carpenter to back up by sheer intimidation.

"Shit…Angel…," Faith shouted, at the top of her lungs, through the pain as she found that for the most part her right arm was now useless in trying to push Wesley off of her.

"Faith…," Angel questioned with a confused and somewhat worried look on his face before his nose caught first the scent of Faith's blood and then of Wesley's.

"Angel hurry…Wes is hurt," Faith exclaimed back with a pained countenance before she gritted her teeth against the pain and fought back the tears that threatened to pour out.

"No…really, I'm fine…," Wesley mumbled with an eerie smile on his face as a small bit of blood started to leak out the side of his mouth before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

"Wesley," Faith screamed in a more shrill voice that she ever thought possible as her defenses were laid bare and a torrent of tears sprang forth.

"Do you have any idea where you're going Charles," Fred asked with a scared look on her face as she caught up to Gunn and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure…of course, okay not really no, I never liked hospitals," Gunn answered with an uncomfortable pout on his face as he turned a corner and stopped in his tracks.  "Every damn hallway that we get to looks exactly like the last one," Gunn added with a somewhat angry scowl on his face as he fretted about what to do.

"Well I think I saw a nurses station awhile back, what if we go back there, find one of those hospital maps or something and find our way out," Fred stated with a sincere look on her face as she lightly patted Gunn on the back.

"Fine with me I guess…just wish that we would have found someone is all, I mean how hard can it be to find a bunch of Buffy's former friends in a hospital…," Gunn stated with an unhappy frown on his face as he turned on his heel and followed Fred back to what he thought was a nurses station.

"Harder than you think Charles, I once got lost in a hospital for almost four hours when I was six…scared me nearly t' death, by the time that my mother found me I was so traumatized that I didn't form a complete word for two months," Fred quipped with an eerie smile on her face, one that made Gunn's hair on the back of his neck stand on end, before she finished her bout of nostalgia and skipped around a nearby corner.

"Freaky…," Gunn mumbled with an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as he rounded the corner and started to follow Fred down the hall.

END OF CHAPTER 15


	16. Pain Loves Company

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.**

**CHAPTER 16-PAIN LOVES COMPANY**

"You are not going to die on me…do you hear me Spike, I won't let you," Buffy grunted with a very serious and angry scowl on her face as she did her best to pick Spike up off of the floor and haul him onto a gurney.  The lack of light in the hallway had made it almost impossible to locate a gurney at first.  But Buffy had remembered the location of one before the lights had gone out and so didn't have to spend much time searching through the vastness of the empty space in front of her before she found it.  Several seconds went by before Buffy was able to maneuver the gurney, thanks in a large part to a sticky right front wheel, down the long hallway and out into a much larger room.  Using the refracted light filtering in through the windows from the powerful lights that the Wolfram and Hart guards had brought with them to light her way Buffy hurriedly pushed the gurney through the room and back into a set of hallways that she knew well enough, the very same ones that she had paced almost endlessly back when her mother had been ill.  "Come on Spike…stay with me…," Buffy mumbled with a worried look on her face as she continued to fly down the hallway as fast as the gurney would allow.  She had almost gotten to the elevator when two figures emerged from out of the darkness around the corner.

"Buffy," Andrew exclaimed with an over exaggerated sigh of relief and wide smile on his face before he caught site of what Buffy was pushing in front of her.

"Spike…is he…," Robin stuttered out with a confused scowl etched into his face as he got a better grip on his axe and waited.

"Dead…no, not yet…not if I have anything to say about it," Buffy softly replied at first with a very childlike look of fear in her green eyes before she turned her attention from Robin back to what she could make out of Spike's face.

"This is for my mother you bastard…," Robin growled under his breath with a very antagonistic look of hate on his face before he swung the axe in an over handed motion and aimed the blade for Spike's neck.

"Faith what…Wesley," Angel started to ask with a confused and concerned look on his face as he knelt down beside Faith before another shot rang out, this time hitting him in his right shoulder.

"Angel…," Faith exclaimed with a pained grimace on her face as she tried to go to his aid, but every movement, even the slight ones, railroaded lighting bolts of pain from her shoulder throughout the rest of her body.

"What is it with people and shooting me…," Angel grumbled with an unhappy scowl on his face before he spun around and sent his gaze up the building back to the window that he and Lorne had flung themselves out of earlier.  Kneeling in the empty window were the two Initiative soldiers that had been chasing them only moments before, each with his weapon trained down onto the still unconscious Lorne.  "Lorne wake…," Was all that Angel was able to get out of his mouth before a bevy of shots rang out, but instead of Angel witnessing one of his best friends being pumped full of bullets it was the sight of the two Initiative soldiers breathing their last that greeted his gaze.  With the beginnings of a sly grin on his face Angel turned back to Wesley and Faith, kneeling down beside Wesley and Faith and hoping that their wounds weren't to serious.

"Get Wes out of here," Faith grunted out with an uncomfortable look on her face as she tried to slide out from under Wesley without putting to much pressure or weight on her injured right shoulder.

"What about you…," Angel asked with a worried look on his face as he scooped Wesley up into his arms and stared over at Faith, who tried her best to hide her concern for Wesley and appear completely composed and not a jumbled mess of emotions.

"Nnh…I'll be fine, slayer healing remember," Faith offered up with a weak smile on her face as she pushed up off of the ground with her uninjured left hand and appeared to be able to hold her own for a few seconds.  But her steely resolve only lasted those scant few seconds before she crumpled back to the ground, an act that received a half exclamation of surprise from Angel before his attention was diverted elsewhere.

"Hey…who ordered the two ton rhino…," Lorne mumbled with a pained frown on his face as he reached up and lightly touched each horn, mostly to reassure himself that they were still where they were supposed to be.

"Lorne get out of there," Angel shouted with an angry scowl on his face as he stood up with the limp body of Wesley in his arms and hoped that the empath demon had heard him.

"Gimme a minute Angelcakes…my head feels like a drakken…," Lorne mumbled weakly back in reply with a pained look on his face as he pushed himself up first onto his forearms and then turned to Angel.

"Lorne stop talking and move…," Angel cried with an almost frantic exclamation on his face before he shook his head angrily and set Wesley back down onto the ground beside Faith.

"Stupid jerk…go ahead and bleed to death, see if I care…I didn't ask for you to…," Faith grumbled with an angry scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly and slammed it down forcefully on Wesley's chest as Angel spun away and raced over towards where Lorne lay.  "Stupid…," Faith started to add in with an even angrier grimace on her face before her countenance shifted abruptly and tears sprang to her eyes as she noticed that she could no longer hear the sound of Wesley breathing in and out.

The words had barely left the lips of the son of the slayer before the fact of what he was trying to do flashed through Buffy's mind.  Without checking to what Andrew was doing Buffy tightened her grip on the gurney and dashed forward, driving the front end of the gurney into what she hoped was Robin's midsection.  Guessing wrong she heard him curse under his breath even though he didn't halt the advance of his axe until Buffy gritted her teeth tightly as the back end of the axe bit deep into the back of her right shoulder.  Through the dimness of what light filtered into the hallway Andrew first caught site of the axe striking Buffy before he coughed and sputtered with an abhorrent look of terror on his face as he was showered with slayer blood.

"Ew…," Andrew exclaimed with a petrified expression of fear and disgust on his face as he stumbled backwards, flailing away at his face in a vain attempt to rid it of Buffy's blood. 

"Nnh…," Buffy stuttered out through her still gritted teeth as she let go her stranglehold on the gurney and slid down to her knees, tears streaming down her face as the blade of the axe slipped silently out of her shoulder and clattered loudly to the floor behind her.

"Damn…," Robin choked out as a tear sprang down his cheek before he collapsed to the ground, desperately trying to catch his breath and composure after the front of the gurney had struck him lower than Buffy had expected it to.  Several seconds ticked by on the overly loud clock that sat above the elevator, marred only by the sounds of Buffy trying not to pass out and Andrew trying to keep from throwing up.

"Spike…," Buffy whispered softly because now the pain in her shoulder was making it hard for her to breathe, with each breath wracked with bolts of pain through her chest.  She was horrified to discover that she could only barely move her right arm and the loss of blood was beginning to make it hard for her to think straight.

"Buffy…," Andrew moaned out through the tears stinging his eyes as he fumbled around in the darkness before he came across a towel and vigorously began to wipe the blood from his face.

"A…Andrew," Buffy choked out as he tried to push herself up off of the floor with her left arm and get a good look through the veil of darkness at the former nerd.

"Oh my God…," Andrew cried when after he pulled the towel away from his face far enough he looked down and saw the glittering pool of blood at his feet.  The light reflected off of the pool of blood danced in arcs across his face before a sound from down the hall caught his attention.  The first sound was quickly followed up by a sporadic burst of gunfire and then silence.  A low snarl echoed down the hallway before Andrew nearly fainted as he caught sight of the ubervamps scurrying down the hallway towards them, the edges of its razor sharp tooth filled grin drenched in fresh blood.

"Move faster," Riley commanded with a very serious scowl on his face as he prodded Kelli and Molly forward with the muzzle of his gun in the middle of their backs. 

"Hey…that hurt ya bloody," Molly shot back with a hurt and angry scowl on her face as she arched her back forward a bit to keep from getting poked a second time.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence…," Riley exclaimed with an almost mocking jeer on his face before a burst of gunfire was heard from down the hall.  Kelli cringed noticeably and the thought of using this moment as a means of escape from her current situation flashed through Molly's mind.

"Stay here and watch them, you two come with me," Riley ordered loudly as he waved to two Initiative soldiers that had been following him down the hallway.  The two soldiers nodded in a silent salute before they followed Riley as he flipped the safety off of his gun and took off down the hallway and then around the corner.

"Psst…Kelli," Molly whispered harshly under her breath as she tried her get the attention of her fellow potential without the two guards hearing her.

"What…," Kelli grumbled back her reply in a curt manner, acting as if she didn't care whether or not their guards had heard.

"Get your bloody ass over here before I kick it," Molly growled with a very angry and frustrated scowl on her face as she reached out and grabbed Kelli's arm, pulling the oddly hair colored potential closer to her side.  The guards behind them only snickered and made a rude comment before the resumed their glances down the hallway.

"What do you want," Kelli grumbled softly under her breath with an impatient scowl on her face as she leaned in close to Molly but kept her gaze trained on a dimly lit exit sign above a nearby door.

"We're going to make a break for it while that jerk Riley and the other two are gone okay," Molly cut in with a harsh whisper before she nodded her head back first towards their two guards and then towards the exit.

"What about those two," Kelli asked with a concerned look on her face as she gestured with her elbow back towards the two guards.

"I think that the taller one fancy's you…so maybe we could…," Molly started to joke with a half smile on her face before she sent a come hither look back over her shoulder at one of the guards.

"What…you don't really think that's actually going to…," Kelli started to question back with a confused and slightly sickened pout on her face before the two guards walked up behind them.

"Of course," Molly shot out through a wide grin before she tensed her whole body up, spun around and shot her foot out, catching the closest guard below the belt.

"Cool…," Kelli exclaimed with an energized smile on her face before she spun around and copied Molly's actions, luckily catching the second guard unawares.

"Come on…," Molly shouted with a look of panic on her face before she barreled through the doors under the exit sign and disappeared into the darkness, cursing out loud that her shackles only allowed her to half run down the hall.

"I don't understand, they were her friends and yet they…," Connor asked with a confused look on his face as he followed Oz down the driveway.

"Me either Connor…I don't see how Willow could have been a part of something like that…," Oz answered with a concerned frown on his face before he and Connor climbed back into his van and took off towards the hospital.

"Maybe she was under some kind of spell, magic often causes problems…," Connor offered with a slightly optimistic look on his face as he stared out of the window.

"You have no idea Connor…if I tried to count the number of times that magic of one kind or another has messed up my life in some way…well…," Oz started to reply with a sadly nostalgic frown on his face before he glanced over to see Connor seemingly hanging on his every word.

"Go on…," Connor said with a concerned look on his face as he inched a bit closer to Oz and away from the window.

"We'd be counting until well after both of our deaths…but no Connor, I don't believe that Willow was under a spell…and that only concerns me more…," Oz replied with a hopefully optimistic smile on his face as he tried to convince Connor that there was no foul play at work in the banishment of Buffy from her own house.  Inwardly though a million and one possible scenarios ran through Oz's mind, with each one still unable to fully explain why Willow would go along with forcing Buffy out.

"We have to do something Sam…they're dying," Xander shouted with a scared look on his face as he glanced across the parking lot and caught sight of Wesley's bloodied form.

"Stay calm Xander…you're in no condition to fight and the situation is still to chaotic to just go running in there like crazy people," Sam shot back with an angry and frustrated scowl on her face as she readied her gun.

"Why isn't there more killing…," Anya added with a sad pout on her face, earning her a confused and shocked looks from Xander, Sam, and Kennedy.

"Wud you shut up awready…," Kennedy mumbled out with an angry scowl on her face as she winced as her broken nose began bleeding again.

"Why…," Anya asked with a confused look on her face as she looked around at everyone that was staring at her, oblivious to the circumstances that were going on around her.

"Because if you don't stop acting like a complete idiot you'll get us all killed," Sam spat back at Anya before she called over to one of the remaining Initiative soldiers as Angel knelt down to help Lorne up off of the ground.

"What now…," Kennedy asked with a worried look on her face as the shooting continued between the Initiative soldiers and the Wolfram and Hart soldiers.

"There's something going on inside the hospital and we can't spare anyone from out here to check it out, so it looks like we're the lucky ones," Sam replied with a concerned and slightly scared look on her face as she turned back to Kennedy.

"What kind of something…," Anya asked with an interested smile on her face as she thought that anything would be better than staying where they were.

"He didn't say, but the intel that we do have says that it's probably not human…," Sam answered with a deadly serious look on her face before she half stood up and hurried towards the side doors of the hospital, finally gesturing that the others should stay low and follow her in.

"Well here goes nothing," Xander grumbled under his breath with a scowl of disapproval on his face before he half stood up and grabbed Anya's hand tightly and pulled her after him as he raced towards the door.

"That should do it," Willow said with a somewhat proud smile on her face as she looked around and nodded her head in silent agreement.

"So what next…," Dawn asked with a scared look on her face as she checked her watch for the second time in less than five minutes.  Ever since Andrew and Robin had left she had been checking her watch in waiting for them to return and explain that everything was fine and that she could calm down.  But she had checked her watch nearly twenty times and yet they were still not back and Willow was just about to cast her they will be done spell.

"Simple Dawnie…I cast the spell and then say that I want Faith to come to me and then we find Andrew, Robin, and the others and we all go back to Bu…home and talk to Giles," Willow stated with a forced look of calm on her face as she shifted her weight a bit to try to work out a kink in her back.

"Are you sure that you've got it all right…you didn't forget some part of the spell in the fuss…," Dawn asked with a worried look on her face as she pushed off of the floor and stood up.

"The fuss…sorry Dawnie but I've got everything well in hand here, if you're worried about Robin and Andrew don't be, I'm sure that they're on their way back here as we speak," Willow replied with a hopefully reassuring smile on her face before she was interrupted by a pair that burst through the double doors.  "See here they…are," Willow started to add with a relieved look on her face before her voice faltered at the realization that who had just rushed into the room was not Robin and Andrew.

"Willow," Fred declared as both a question and statement as she looked on with a startled look on her face, dropping the point of her gun down to the floor.

"Fred…what are you," Willow asked with a confused look on her face as she debated whether or not to stay seated or to stand up.

"We could ask you the same thing Willow, what's all of this for," Gunn interjected with a concerned frown on his face as he took a step into the room and stared down at the circle on the floor with the strategically placed candles.

"Just a simple spell, nothing to worry about," Willow quickly stammered out with a guilty look on her face as she hoped that Gunn and Fred wouldn't press her on the issue any further.

"We're looking for Faith…have you seen her," Dawn asked with a nervous expression on her face as she slipped her hands into her pockets and took a step forward.

"Yes, but she didn't seem to be in any condition to help you," Fred started off with a slightly confused look on her face before Gunn cut in.

"Or mood, she was to busy talking to Angel and Buffy," Gunn interjected with a serious look on his face as he lowered his gun slightly but kept it at ready.

"Buffy…Buffy's here…where," Dawn quickly jumped in and asked with a slightly excited and scared look on her face as she rushed forward.

"Well she's…," Fred started to answer after a quick glance towards Gunn before a loud burst of gunfire shook her out of her words.

"Does that answer your question…come on Fred," Gunn stated with a worried look on his face before he turned around and shoved his way through the double doors.

END OF CHAPTER 16


	17. A Little Help Here

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 17-A LITTLE HELP HERE…**

Gunn cursed his lack of foresight having not skimmed over the plans of the hospital before he had rushed out of his office and made the decision to direct the Wolfram and Hart convoy to Sunnydale.  At his side Fred was doing her best to keep up with Gunn's longer stride but quickly found herself falling behind and tearing through the hallways with a nervous Willow and a scared Dawn at her side.  Gunn kept the safety off on his gun as more than once he could have sworn along the way that he had caught sight of something lurking in the shadows of the hospital that was anything but human.  A couple of moments later Fred was just about to shout up to Gunn to ask for a quick breather when she very nearly bowled him over upon entering a hallway adjacent to one of the waiting rooms, one that seemed oddly familiar to Dawn.

"Charles…what," Fred started to ask with a confused and somewhat startled look on her face before Gunn held up a hand at his side, signaling Fred, Willow, and Dawn to stay quiet for a few seconds longer.  Through the now dingy and grime covered windows of the waiting room the quartet could make out what looked like a fierce battle going on inside of the waiting room.

"What's going on," Dawn asked with a scared expression on her face as she inched a bit closer to the doors before Gunn reached out and pulled her back to his side.

"Looks like someone started World War Three and forgot to call us…," Gunn mumbled with a hesitant and confrontational scowl on his face before he half turned back to make sure that Dawn and the others were staying put before he reached for his radio.  "Whedon come in…what's happening in the third floor waiting room," Gunn harshly whispered into his shoulder mounted radio receiver.  After waiting several seconds and not receiving any sort of reply Gunn angrily shook his head.

"It's not your fault Charles," Fred said quickly with a sympathetic tone to her voice as she walked forward and laid a hand gently on Gunn's shoulder.

"It doesn't matter Fred, either way those men are still dead," Gunn coldly replied back with a rather pessimistic scowl on his face as he only half turned his head back towards Fred before he clicked the radio off.

"So what are we standing around here for, we have to find Buffy," Dawn interjected with a frustrated and scared look on her face as she edged closer to Willow.

"We will Dawn I swear, but we have to figure out what's going on here first," Willow answered with a reassuring smile sent Dawn's way before she flipped through the rolodex of spells in her mind in an attempt to find one that would help them in their current predicament.

"That's easy for you to say but what are…," Fred started to add with a worried look on her face before there was a giant explosion that ripped through the waiting room.

The ubervamp had almost been upon them when the explosions blasted the foul creature up off of its feet and crashing into the wall mere centimeters above Andrews head.  The former nerd shrieked in terror as he let the slayer blood stained towel drop out of his shaking hand.  Robin had just begun to try to stand back up when the blast had easily knocked him back off of his feet and tumbling to the floor.  Buffy was far too busy fading in and out of consciousness to be fully aware of the event occurring around her.  All that she could make out was a shrill screeching sound and then the eerie silence, only interrupted by the fragility of her own shallow labored breaths in and out.  The fingers of her right hand had already begun to grow numb, only furthering her fear that these current moments would be her last.  Through her blurry gaze she could no longer make out the outline of the gurney sitting directly in front of her.

"Eek…Buffy," Andrew shrieked with a five alarm fire look of panic on his face as he did his best to scramble away from the temporarily unconscious ubervamp and get to Buffy's side.

"A…Andrew…," Buffy mumbled out through lips that now seemed to refuse to fully adhere to her commands.

"We're in trouble here…Buffy," Andrew stated quickly as he desperately tried to keep from falling into a full blown fit of blubbering.

"N…no, shit…," Buffy managed to force out before she coughed violently, not noticing or caring that more blood than words was now spilling from between her lips.

"Oh God this is bad…Robin," Andrew exclaimed with a terrified beyond belief look on his face before he turned to the son of a slayer and hoped that he had finally recovered enough.

"What happened," Robin choked out through the dust before he waved his hand through the slowly settling cloud of dust in front of his face.

"What…you didn't, the ubervamp, the explosion…what were you thinking, she's dying and…," Andrew blurted out quickly, suddenly getting very red in the face, as he only half turned away from Buffy and clenched his hands up into fists.

"How bad is it," Robin asked with a concerned scowl on his face as he was finally able to gently push the gurney away from himself just enough to get back up to his feet.

"Didn't you hear me…she's dying, we have to get her to a hospital or something," Andrew screamed out with an anger that he didn't know that he had as he was half tempted to take a swing at the man standing directly in front of him.

"We're in a hospital Andrew…but I swear I didn't…I never meant to…," Robin replied coldly with a half sarcastic smirk on his face before he nearly choked on his words at the realization of what was truly transpiring around them.

"Buffy," A frantic voice screamed from down the hall before Robin and Andrew tore their gaze away from Buffy long enough to see three figures running down the hall towards them, bright lights attached to the end of their guns, which blurred out their faces.  Robin was first to act as he started to stand up and put his hands in front of him.  "Get away from her," The voice growled angrily before the two others that had rushed down the hallway behind the speaker stepped forward and rudely shoved Robin back away from Buffy while the speaker knelt down and laid his gun on the floor beside Buffy.

"I…I didn't mean to…it was an accident, Spike…," Robin stuttered with a nervous scowl on his face as he tried to find out as much as he could about who it was that was pointing their guns his way while trying not to anger them.

"Spike…," The kneeling man asked with a confused and somewhat startled look on his face as he tore his gaze away from Buffy only momentarily.

"He…he's over there, on the gurney…he's hurt pretty bad," Andrew blurted out through fearfully chattering teeth as he pointed a shaking finger towards the gurney a scant foot away.

"What the hell…Perkins," The man said with a very firm tone to his voice as he slightly nodded his head towards the gurney.

"It's him sir, hostile seventeen, from the looks of things he's seen better days…," Perkins stated with a slightly sickened blanch on his face as he turned back to the kneeling man and nodded his head.

"Ri…ley…," Buffy said, more letting the words tumble out of her almost motionless lips than anything else, as she could only manage to open one eye and half turn in up towards her former lover.

"Buffy…you sick son of a bitch…," Riley started to say as he looked down at Buffy, fighting back the tears in his eyes, before a rage overtook him and he reach out and grabbed the front of Robin's shirt before slamming him into the wall beside the elevator.

"Sir…," Perkins exclaimed with a shocked look on his face as he quickly snapped his gun over to where the ubervamp that had intended to kill them all was just starting to come around.

"What…," Riley spat out with an angry sneer on his face before he rather forcefully shoved Robin to the ground and hurried back to his gun, just in time to see the ubervamp shake its head and spin around to face them.  With an evil glint in its eyes the ubervamp sprang from its place on the floor and locked its jaws tightly around the only remaining undisclosed mans throat.

"Shausy…," Perkins cried with a look of both terror and disgust as he fumbled with his gun.

"He…," Was all that Shausy could get out through the gaping wound in his throat before the ubervamp snapped his neck and drank deep.  The sight of the ubervamp drinking deeply from his friend finally snapped Perkins out of his state of fumbling and the soldier caught his gun up and squeezed the trigger.  The ubervamp growled in both pain and anger as first the bullets from Perkins gun and then from Riley's shredded through the flesh on its back.  Riley and Perkins continued to fire until the ubervamp spun off of Shausy and crumpled to the floor, giving one final jerking spasm before it died.  During the firefight a terrified Andrew had scrambled away from Buffy's side and dove underneath the gurney, still feeling in the back of his mind that the terribly wounded Spike could still protect him somehow.

"Angel," Faith screamed, most likely for the first time in her entire life, not out of fear or panic for herself but for the welfare of someone that she had begun to care about a great deal.

"Faith not…," Angel started to growl with an unhappy expression on his face before his gaze fell onto the wretched look of fear and panic on Faith's face as tears streamed down her cheeks and her lower lip quivered a bit.  Angel had only known Faith to truly cry, as she was now, only once before, and that moment in time was burned into his memory forever.  That night he had cradled the dark slayer in his arms as if she had been a mere babe, allowing her to cry her eyes out if need be.  He had, of course, known that Wesley had been standing not to far behind them, mostly because of the smell of his still outgoing blood, but an unneeded breath had caught in his throat for a few seconds when he had heard the sound of a knife clattering to the street.  At that moment he had silently wondered if he would have had the fortitude to actually stop Wesley from doing what he had originally intended to do with the knife, enact some form of revenge.  But in the coming years he had come to know that as furious as Wesley had been at Faith that night he would never have been able to vent his anger on Faith with the knife, even if she had knelt down in front of him and begged him to slice her throat open from ear to ear. 

"Hey what happened to the rhino…," Lorne moaned with a pained expression on his face before Angel gently leaned him up against the wall of the hospital and sprinted over to kneel down beside Faith and Wesley as the bullets continued to fly back and forth between the soldiers of the Initiative and those loyal to Wolfram and Hart.

"He's not breathing…," Faith gasped out nearly in a whisper as Angel noticed that she had gone far whiter in the face that any vampire that he had ever seen, making her look almost as if someone had turned her into a mime on the spot and forgotten the colors of the other marks.

"Lilah," Angel shouted at the top of his dead lungs twice before Lilah slipped out through the back door of the hospital, at first appearing to care less what Angel was going off about before her gaze fell onto Wesley's limp body on the ground.  Had she not been dead already Angel guessed that Lilah would have died on the spot from the look on her face when she saw Wesley's body and all of the blood.  Lilah stood rigid in place for what seemed like eons before she ran to his side, sending a venomous glare Faith's way before Angel reached out and latched onto Lilah's shoulder, with a hand that was wet with Wesley's blood, and cut her off.  "It's not her fault Lilah, the Initiative got them both…," Angel interjected with a very stern scowl on his face before a quick glance to the side caught a sad sight.  Faith looked about ready to pass out and lose her lunch all at the same time from the sweaty and vapid expression on her face and in her eyes.  But before Angel could say another word Faith's eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped forward, her body falling straightaway on top of Wesley's.

"Medic," Lilah screamed loud enough that Angel thought that she'd go hoarse from the effort as she tore her gaze away from the sight in front of her and back towards a group of robed men hurrying towards them.

"Dawn," Willow cried with a great amount of worry in her voice as she coughed a bit to clear her lungs of the sticky dust that had billowed up seemingly unrelentingly after the explosion.

"Unnhh…," Dawn moaned out softly with a sickly frown on her face though she did not wake up.

"Charles," Fred called out frantically as she bolted upright to a seated position and turned to her side to see Gunn trying to wipe the dirt from about his eyes.

"I'm…okay," Gunn spat out through spitting as he tasted blood in the spit before he was momentarily silenced as Fred threw her arms around him and gave him a quick and strong bear hug.

"Dawn," Willow nearly shrieked with a panic-stricken look of fear on her face as she crawled over to the former key and spotted the thin trail of blood oozing from beneath Dawn's hairline.

"What's wrong," Gunn asked loudly as he tore himself away from Fred and got up to a kneeling position, scrounging around in the debris for his gun.

"She's hurt, Buffy's going to kill me when she finds out," Willow answered quickly with the first part of her response but fell to babbling out the rest, even though both Fred and Gunn could make out what she said and glanced at each other with concern clearly evident in their gazes.

"We can't do anything for her right now…Fred you and Willow get her to the medics while I…," Gunn started to add with a heavy heart before Fred turned on a dime and set a menacing glare at him, the one that she always swung his way when she would refuse to follow along with one of his plans or thought it to be far to risky on his part.

"Oh no you don't Charles…if you think for one second that I'm going to help Willow get Dawn to safety while you go running into…God knows what in there then…well then that explosion must have knocked something loose," Fred stated with a very clear edge to her voice as she clenched her hands into fists and took a step towards Gunn.

"Just do it Fred…please, we can't bring Dawn with us, she needs a doctor and…," Gunn started to plead with a nervous smile on his face before Willow made up both of their minds for them and grabbed a hold of Fred's arm and gave it a tug.

"Come on Fred, we have to go," Willow called out with a very forceful and in no mood to debate scowl on her face before Fred reluctantly agreed and helped Willow pick Dawn up off of the floor just enough so that neither would be strained in her transport.

"Hurry," Gunn exclaimed with a very worried look on his face as he bowed slightly to Fred and Willow before he turned on his heel and rushed forward into the unknown that had once been the waiting room.

"Do you have any idea where you're going," Kelli huffed out, red in the face from the exertion, as she tried to keep up with Molly even though her restraints were making it hard for her to do anything more than an odd hurried waddle.

"Sure I do…do you really think that I'd be stupid enough to going running off through the hallways of this hospital without a bloody clue where I was going do you," Molly nearly growled back her reply even though she knew that every single word of it was a blatant lie as she in truth had absolutely no clue where she was going but was far to proud and scared to admit it.

"Okay then Ms know it all, where to…," Kelli asked with an almost mocking sneer on her face as she tried to keep from laughing at Molly's dismal response.

"The parking garage, that's where Buffy and Spike and the others were before we split up, maybe they're all back there…," Molly started to guess with a heart full of both hope and worry before both she and Kelli were thrown off of their feet and into the nearest wall by a powerful explosion that shook the building around them.  "Bloody," Molly grunted out through gritted teeth as she shook her head back and forth to try to get her ears to stop ringing.

"Ow…what the hell was that," Kelli moaned for a bit at first before she posed the question that both of the potentials was asking themselves.

"You're asking me…everything's gone all wrong for me since I crossed the pond and came here…back home everything was fine, sure the mind numbing nightmares weren't fun but…," Molly blurted out with an impatient scowl on her face before she noticed that Kelli was giving her a very confused and worried expression.  "Alright already I give…I haven't a clue where I'm going…at least we got away from those guards…," Molly finally admitted with an embarrassed frown on her face before she and Kelli helped each other to their feet.

"True…but now were just about as likely to run into one of those super vamps that attacked Kennedy and the others before Buffy showed up," Kelli offered with a slightly scared smile on her face as it was evident that she was trying to sound and appear braver than she actually felt.

"With our luck…," Molly began with a timid look of fear on her face as she looked across the hallway at Kelli before the two nodded in silent agreement and sped off as best they could down the long hallway, endlessly sneaking a quick peek down each new hallway that they came to before proceeding.

"Riley," Sam shrieked with a worried and panicked look of exasperation on her face before she steadied herself and turned back to Xander and the others, although Kennedy could see the fear in her eyes.

"I'm sure that he's okay Sam, he's probably rushing to investigate the explosion as we speak…right now," Xander stated with an optimistic smile on his face as he hoped that his words of encouragement would help lighten Sam's mood, but she only stared back oddly at him as he wiped a bead of sweat away from slipping underneath the eye patch.

"Oh right…for all we know Xander he was there when the explosion…hey," Anya started to add with an unconvinced scowl on her face before Kennedy slugged her in the arm and then walked off past Sam down the darkened hallway.

END OF CHAPTER 17


	18. Healing Hurts Like HellYa Know

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 18- HEALING HURTS LIKE HELL…YA KNOW**

_Years later when any of her grandchildren would ask her about what happened after Robin Wood's axe had nearly killed her Buffy would only say that she didn't remember anything from seeing Robin swing the axe to waking up in the infirmary.  _

She awoke with a start, nearly shrieking in shock before a painful constriction in her chest reminded her of what had come before to place her in this position.  She glanced down and blushed instantly, realizing that somewhere along the way she had entirely lost the services of her shirt, jeans, and bra while her injured shoulder was heavily bandaged.  She started to push herself up to rest on her elbows but a small cry escaped her lips as her still healing right shoulder was stretched just a little too far and she very nearly passed out from the pain before she slowly laid back down.  With her nerves a bit calmer she took stock of her surroundings.

She was lying in what looked to have been someone's bedroom at one time, with a chest of drawers leaning up against one wall with its drawers all open, a privacy screen folded up in one corner and several stacks of medical supplies strewn all about, with a cold plate of food lying on the nightstand beside her.  What she found most interesting was twofold, first she had only glanced up momentarily out of frustration before she noticed a giant mirror affixed to the ceiling and her tired and weary face reflected in it and that she was resting in a bed fitted with what felt like silk sheets.  Screwing her face up in wonderment at the thought of what type of person would have silk sheets and a large mirror on the ceiling Buffy was about to crawl cautiously out of bed and look for some clothes when a still battle ready Riley Finn appeared in the doorway.

"R…Riley," Buffy asked softly, with her voice still a bit shaky after all of the loss of blood and sleeping for she knew not how long.

"How are you feeling…," Riley asked, his voice full of concern, as he kept his place in the doorway, almost seemingly locked in a silent debate within himself questioning what his next action should be.  Silent seconds ticked by before he apparently resolved his internal conflict and took a couple of steps into the room, pulling a chair close to the bed and taking a seat.

"Just peachy…okay I feel like I'm about two seconds away from tossing my cookies but…," Buffy started to reply at first with a faux smile on her face before her weariness took over and she blanched as a sickly feeling landed in her stomach.

"You already did that…twice, Sam's going to have my head for that…," Riley mumbled back sheepishly in reply as Buffy pulled the covers up a bit more so that only her neck and head were visible above them.

"Sorry about that…," Came Buffy's quick reply before she blushed and smiled as she cast her gaze anywhere in the room but at Riley's face, hoping that she hadn't gotten him into to much trouble.

"Don't worry about it Buffy, Sam will understand once I explain to her what happened…," Riley started to say to try to quell Buffy's fears before she rolled her eyes and cut him off.

"Oh yeah, like that's your strong suit ya know…uh not to sound ungrateful or anything but where am I…where are my clothes, and where's Spike," Buffy joked at first with another much more dramatic rolling of her eyes before her look became pointed as she directed her gaze directly towards Riley.

"Um…you're in one of the larger homes in the Sunnydale area that the Initiative has turned into the infirmary, your clothes were so caked with blood that they were a lost cause…and as for assface…I mean Spike, he's…well he's…," Riley stammered out with a sheepish grin on his face as he slowly shook his head and tore his gaze away from Buffy's before he was interrupted by a weak entry from the doorway.

"Feeling like a bloody wheel of Swiss cheese at the moment…," A very pale looking Spike choked out, almost in a whisper, from the doorway as the fears residing in Buffy's stomach hit their high notes at the sight of Spike's sickly form leaning very heavily on the doorframe.

"Spike…," Buffy gushed out, almost alike in her whisper, as a relieved but still pained smile spread quickly across her face before warm tears introduced themselves to the world as they gracefully bounded down her cheeks.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed…," Riley grunted out through a clenched jaw as his words conveyed concern at the sickly condition of the vampire but in the not so distant expanses of his mind he had hoped that the vampire that had fully taken her away from him had finally met his demise.  But it was not to be.

"I'm not supposed to be a lot of things soldier boy…don't rightly care anymore what I'm supposed to be, only person that has that say is Buffy," Spike growled back in a halfhearted attempt to regain the aura of being the big bad in charge and terrifying the scared villagers around him that he had possessed years earlier but now in his dilapidated condition he looked to Buffy more like a sickly droopy eyed teddy bear with an overbite and nicotine addiction.  All in all at that particular moment in time he was the most beautiful sight her eyes had ever beheld, completely surpassing the look on her mothers face after she caught site of who was standing on the doorstep after she had returned from her self imposed exile in Los Angeles after Angel's death.

"You should have at least…," Riley began to plead with a nervous twitch in his left hand, signaling to Buffy that he was trying his best to keep his temper under control, before Spike got involved.

"Bugger off ya bloody tosser…can't ya see that we need a little time to get reacquainted," Spike interjected with a rather pessimistic scowl on his face as he glared across the bed at Riley, supremely tempted to slip into his game face for a few seconds to add further emphasis to his words but he stopped the instant that he felt his angels hand on his arm.

"Spike please…be civil…," Buffy muttered under her breath with a very commanding look locked into her gaze as the light touch on Spike's arm changed to her locking her hand around his wrist and pulling him closer.

"I am pet…but Captain Cardboard here is…," Spike started to say with the sexy smirk that he gave only to Buffy before Riley could stand no more, threw his hands up in defeat, and marched from the room, muttering curses against every vampire in the world as he went, nearly slamming the door shut behind him in utter frustration and contempt for what he guessed would soon be played out in the bedroom behind him.

"You okay…I mean really, no kidding or joking around," Buffy asked with a worried look on her face as she pulled back the covers to allow him entrance.

"My my…dinner and a show…you spoil me slayer," Spike joked with an impish smirk on his face, one that always got Buffy's blood pumping as his gaze flickered momentarily across the bed to the plate of untouched food on the nightstand before he slid into bed next to her.

"Shut up…," Buffy shot back with her best look of anger that she could muster given her current state of her eyelids starting to droop a bit.

"Mmm…make me," Spike mumbled back with a wide grin splashed across his face before he leaned in and lightly nibbled the side of Buffy's neck, receiving a relieved giggle for his efforts.

"Would you please sit still, you've just come out of surgery and…," An older doctor pleaded with a scared look on his face as Faith continued to strain against the straps holding her down to the gurney. 

"Let…me…go," Faith growled back with an angry sneer on her face as she fought through the searing pain in her right shoulder, not caring if she tore the new stitches or not, to try to sit up.

"Listen to them Faith," Angel stated with a very clear and commanding expression on his face as he hovered above Faith's bed as she shook her head in an attempt to clear out the cobwebs left over from the anesthesia used in her surgery.

"You can't help Wesley right now sugarplum…the doctors and clerics are in there working on him right now, they'll have him patched up and scowling at us over a cup of tea in no time," Lorne added with a halfhearted smile on his face as even he knew that his words of comfort rang hollow at that moment he felt that he had to at least give it a shot.

"But I can't just…he can't…I didn't…I've never…I…," Faith mumbled out quickly as it was evident that a mess of jumbled emotions and feelings that had struggled valiantly to come to the forefront for some time were finally able to show themselves, albeit all at the exact same time.

"Would you shut up already…I can barely hear myself think with you blabbering on like this…," Lilah groaned with an annoyed scowl on her face as she turned away from the doorway before returning her gaze to the door directly across the hallway, her countenance softening clearly along the way.

"No I will not…," Faith started to nearly scream out before her teeth snapped together and she fought to keep from crying out in pain as Angel poked her hard in the shoulder near where the stitches were located.

"Not now Lilah…Lorne's right Faith, none of us can do anything for Wesley until he's out of surgery and even then we have to wait for him to wake up," Angel snapped at Lilah at first before he calmed down a bit and tried to soothe the rogue slayers frazzled nerves.

"But what if he wakes up early…doesn't know where he is…tries to come looking for me…," Faith trailed off at the end as she spoke in a halting speech with Angel slowly nodding his head as the reasoning's behind her words had become clear to him and he didn't want to hear another acid laden comment from Lilah on the matter anytime soon.

"Don't worry Faith, after we're sure that Wesley's out of danger I'll personally see to it that you both share a room…," Angel said softly with a deep look of concern on his face before he was interrupted by Fred as she rushed into the room, not caring to pause and wait for Lilah to get out of the way as the former lawyer was very nearly bowled over in the process.

"Angel, we need to…oh my God, what happened," Fred exclaimed with a frantic look of worry on her face before she noticed the state of the occupants of the room and very nearly forgot her bit of news.  Lilah stood in the open doorway with her arms crossed and glaring daggers into the middle of Fred's back.  Lorne rested in a chair that sat up against one wall with a teetering icepack on one knee while he pressed another one to his forehead, being careful to not let his horns puncture the bag.  Angel had pulled up a stool beside Faith's gurney and was trying to calm her down while not letting on how much his own undoubted multitude of cuts and scrapes was hurting him.

"We had a little run in with another one of those cheery secretive governmentally backed shadow organizations that shoot first and ask questions...well never," Lorne answered with a soft moan as he tried his best to retain his usually cheerful outlook on life while delivering bad news.

"Funny…us to…except we didn't end up as bad as you guys did…wait, where's Wesley…Angel," Fred joked at the beginning before she did a sweep around the room with her eyes and noticed that they were two short.

"He's in surgery right now…he took a bullet for Faith…but she got hit to," Angel replied with a sad and worried smile on his face before he couldn't keep it up any longer and slumped his shoulders and turned away.  For a second Angel almost expected Fred to cry, and in truth she almost did, but Gunn's timely arrival, looking like he had just crawled through five miles of smelly and dusty debris, kept her from getting any further.

"We've got a situation here Angel, Buffy's little sister Dawn was hurt in the explosion and she hasn't woken up yet, Willow is with her but I thought that I should tell you before the clerics and doctors got to far along," Gunn said with a very grim scowl on his face as he picked up a spare towel and began to wipe the dirt and grime from first his neck and then his face.

"Dawn's here…Willow to, why didn't anyone tell me…Lilah double the guard on their room and don't let Willow leave Dawn's side for any reason," Angel announced with a very firm tone to his voice as he stood up and walked away from Faith, leaving her to stare off after him with a confused look on her face.

"Oh this doesn't look good," Kelli stated with a scared look on her face as she and Molly stumbled out into the parking garage to find it looking like a disaster area.

"You can say that again…," Molly mumbled back in reply softly with a very worried look on her face as she made her way into the garage and looked around before she spotted two people hurrying towards them, both armed.

"Who are you," The younger of the two people hurrying towards them shouted with an almost accusing scowl on his face as he lifted his sword up high, ready for anything.

"Easy Connor, they're unarmed…and from the looks of it in no position to walk let alone attack us," Oz cautioned with a concerned frown on his face as he lowered his axe and laid a restraining hand on Connor's arm.

"But…," Connor protested with an unsure and unconvinced look on his face as his gaze swept back and forth between Oz and Kelli and Molly.

"Of course not…we won't attack you, see we can barely walk," Molly pleaded with as innocent of smile on her young face as she could get as she feebly held up her shackled hands for Connor and Oz to see.

"Well they don't…look…dangerous," Connor mumbled softly with a still edgy but slightly more calm look on his face and body language as he lowered his sword, but only barely.

"Because we're not…we're just potential slayers, not even the real…," Kelli let spill out with a scared smile on her face before Molly cut her off with a loud clearing of her throat and angry glare over her shoulder.

"Yeah they're much…wait a minute, did you say…potential…slayers, like Buffy and Faith," Oz quickly jumped in with a confused look on his face as he took a full step in front of Connor and completely dropped his axe down to his side.

"How did you…," Kelli uttered, staring now at both Oz and Connor with eyes wider than Molly had ever seen them, as she slowly made her way forward before another cough from Molly caused her to fall silent.

"I know all about Buffy being the slayer and Faith being called after Buffy died, I used to date a friend of hers…her name's Willow, maybe you've heard of…her," Oz started to interject with a hurried tone to his voice before he smiled inwardly as he saw a light turn on in first Kelli and then Molly's brain as both seemed to relax a bit.

"Heard of her…she picked me up from the airport, she's cool…except she hangs around with a real bitchy potential named Kennedy, I hate her," Kelli exclaimed with an excited smile on her face as it soon seemed that no matter what she did she could not stem the words from spilling continuously from out of her mouth.  For a moment Molly looked as if she was about to strangle Kelli but then Oz caught the brunette potential nodding in agreement.

"Do you know where she is…it's kind of important," Oz asked with an impatient expression on his face as he could tell that Connor was quickly tiring of the game of twenty questions and was more interested in the odd vibe that the entire area was giving off.

"Sorry…," Molly replied, blushing deeply as she tried to avoid looking at Connor, before she continued, "I haven't seen her for awhile, but Kelli saw her last night."

"Molly's right, we came here looking for Buffy but…well, things didn't go so well," Kelli blurted out with an excited smile on her face at first before a frown came down over her features as she lifted her hands up together to show Oz and Connor the shackles.

"How did you get tied up like that," Connor asked finally as he cocked his head to one side and stared at the two potentials with an odd frown on his face, not knowing what to make of either one of them.

"This guy named Riley…part of some sort of terrorist group or something…knocked me out and when I came to I well…," Kelli answered with an angry scowl on her face as she quickly recounted the events that had led she and Molly to their current predicament as Oz and Connor stood quietly and listened.

"Riley's here…Riley Finn…damn," Oz murmured softly with a very unhappy and scrunched up look on his face as he turned around on his heel and slowly began to pace back and forth in front of an astonished Connor.

"Who's Riley Finn…," Connor asked with a confused look on his face as he picked his sword back up to a defensive position as Oz's body language was filling him with worry, a feeling that he hated immensely.

"One of Buffy's old boyfriends…and a member of one of those secretive and shadowy government agencies that has made it their missions to stomp out anything that's not completely human…even threw me into a cell a few years ago and got their jollies by forcing me to change," Oz replied with a bitter look on his face as he squeezed the handle of the axe in his hands tighter than he ever thought that he could.

"Buffy dated…that jerk," Kelli mouthed with an astounded and surprised look on her face before she closed her mouth and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter now though, I heard that she's dating someone that she really loves…," Oz added with a confused and somewhat concerned look on his face as he shook his head and lightened his grip on his axe.

"That's right, she's dating Spike," Molly informed Oz with a proud and happy smile on her face as she thought back to the time that she and Spike had gotten into a row about the characters on their favorite soap opera, never noticing how quickly Oz's jaw had dropped at the news and Connor had only shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something softly to himself.

"He's out of danger for now but I'm not sure if…," The head doctor started to whisper softly to Angel as he leaned in close before Angel raised a hand and cut him off.

"I understand…but I believe that this is for the best…," Angel replied with a very stern but yet oddly nervous look on his face as he stood there and gazed through the glass at two of his best friends in the world lying healing on two gurneys lying side by side.

"I'm here Wes…don't die on me…don't die on me…," Faith whispered softly with a relieved smile on her face as she rolled over and draped her left arm across Wesley's chest before she finally laid her head onto Wesley's left shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

END OF CHAPTER 18


	19. Faith Through Trickery

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 19-FAITH THROUGH TRICKERY**

"You should stay here Miss…," An older guard told Willow as politely as he could without having to resort to actually point his weapon at her as Willow tried to push past him out of the room and into the hallway beyond.

"But Dawn's hurt and Gunn said that he'd be back with help…," Willow protested with an impatient and simmering look of anger in her eyes as she held herself back from using magic on the guard.

"Ooh…the baby sister of the slayer got a boo-boo, I'm beside myself with worry," Lilah purred out with a vindictive streak a mile long as she sauntered past the guard and avoided eye contact of any sort with Willow before settling down on the stool beside Dawn's bed.

"Get away from her," Willow demanded with a very stern tone to her voice as she hurried forward and pulled Lilah back up off of the stool.

"Easy on the suit will ya honey…it cost more to dry clean this thing that you've probably made in your entire lifetime," Lilah growled with an unhappy and jeering sneer on her face as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her suit and turned away to check her hair in a nearby mirror.

"Who are you, what do you want," Willow blurted out as she made sure to keep herself in between Lilah and Dawn's bed.

"Big on the questions eh…well you can relax honey, honestly I don't give a dam what happens to that little we…," Lilah started to reply with her trademark aloof smile before she leaned in a bit closer to Willow to give added weight to her final word but was caught off guard when Willow realized what that word was going to be before she said it and reared back and slapped Lilah hard across the face.

He felt pain.  Not your run of the mill pain either.  The pain seemed to be deeply rooted in the wound that made his left shoulder feel like there was a spear jutting out of it.  He had yet to open his eyes after regaining consciousness, but not out of fear of where he would find himself or what condition he would be in.  The last memory that flitted through his mind as he tried desperately to latch onto it was of Faith yelling at him with tears in her eyes as she tried to appear as if her own wound wasn't making it hard for her to stay conscious.  He could feel the effects of the drugs coursing through his veins and yawned deeply, taking a second or two to adjust to the warm and pain free feeling that he expected to come any minute.  He was left in such a state for a few more seconds before the mostly logical side of his brain kicked in and gave out a thunderous question of why his left shoulder was still hurting if he could feel the pain relieving drugs rushing through his system.  Cracking his left eye open he almost immediately forgot about his pain.  His breath caught in his throat at the heavenly image that greeted his opened eye.  Holding his breath now he carefully slid his right eye open and focused it on the sight that his left eye had been first to behold, almost seemingly to double check and make sure that his left eye hadn't been deceived in some fashion.

With her cheek resting almost directly overtop of the most painful spot on his injured shoulder lay in his mind a vision of beauty.  Her left arm, which had been originally simply lazily draped across his body, had slipped in between his right arm and the side of his body.  In her sleep he guessed that she had instinctively tried to hold onto him as if she expected him to drift away at and second.  Her eyes were closed and the once dark blue bruise on her left temple had almost completely disappeared thanks to her enhanced slayer healing. Her lips were slightly parted and to his eternal surprise a small line of drool was dribbling out.  He made a mental note to remember that scene for the rest of his life, knowing full well that she would never openly admit to it.  Feeling a tad more courageous than usual he cautiously picked his right arm up off of the bed, reached over and paused before making sure that Faith hadn't noticed his actions.  With a very gentle touch he moved his hand in a bit closer and brushed some hair that had fallen down over her face back behind her ear, tracing the ridge of said ear softly with his fingertips.  She stirred a bit at his touch and for a moment he was sure that she was going to wake up, but after a half cough in her sleep she relaxed and resumed drooling.  He stared at this sight for what seemed like forever before he began to feel the effects of the drugs more fully and he began to drift in and out.  Forcing himself to stay away for as long as he could Wesley ran a hesitant thumb tip over first the curves of her upper lip and then tilted his thumb just a bit and ran the pad of his thumb across the fullness of her bottom lip as he imagined kissing her until he ran out of all of the breath housed in his entire body.  His last act before succumbing the every increasing pull of the drugs to reenter his former state of sleep was to trace a line down the front of her neck from the cleft in her chin and ending when his thumb reached her collarbone.

"I still don't believe what I'm hearing," Oz mumbled sadly out loud as he finished helping Kelli get the rest of her restraints off.

"It's true…at least that's what Spike told me and when I asked Buffy about it later she didn't correct him…just don't mention it to Angel," Molly said with an almost scared look on her face as she shivered at Connor's touch as he took her left ankle with one hand and pulled off the last of her restraints with the other.

"Why not," Connor asked from his kneeling position as he cast aside the restraints and picked his sword back up off of the ground.

"Because…," Molly stammered out quickly as she tried her best to keep her mind off of the patch of skin that she spied in between the top of Connor's jeans and the bottom of his shirt as he stood up.

"When he found out he nearly ripped my head off…well my head and Mr. Wood's arm," Kelli added with a slightly painful wince as she popped her neck and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why…what's so special about this Mr. Wood," Oz asked with a bad feeling picking away at the back of his mind.

"He's special, his mother was a slayer," Kelli replied with an almost excited smirk on her face at the looks that Oz and Connor were giving her.

"Spike killed her…but that was years ago, he's different now," Molly quickly added with an impatient scowl etched upon her face, and an angry glare cast Connor's way, as she saw him clench his fists tightly before she took off at a brisk pace through the parking garage.

"Wait…where's she going," Connor asked with a confused frown on his face as he turned to watch Molly walk away.

"Got me…," Kelli replied softly before Oz could as she only shook her head and watched Molly disappear into the darkness.

"Thank you Lilah, that'll be all," Angel stated glumly with an apprehensive expression on his face as he ushered her out of Dawn's hospital room before he took a deep breath and turned around to face an unhappy Willow.

"What took you so long Angel, Gunn said that…," Willow began with a very unhappy and frustrated scowl on her face as she marched up to Angel.

"Need I remind you that you're in no position to be demanding anything of me Willow…now then…how's Dawn," Angel growled loudly at first before he calmed down and tried his best to not let the situation get out of hand.

"See for yourself," Willow mumbled with a look of restraint clearly evident on her face as she bit her bottom lip to keep from expressing how she truly felt.

"Honestly Willow, I've seen worse…what did the doctors say," Angel added glumly with a half smile cast Willow's way before he settled his face down into a concerned pout that he liked to wear.

"Not much, the only thing they'd do without your authorization is stabilize her and make sure that she wasn't going to…," Willow started to quickly answer with a frustrated look on her face before she found that she couldn't continue her answer because of where it was headed.

"She's not going to die Willow, no matter my feelings towards you and the others I'm not about to let Dawn die, Buffy would never forgive me…," Angel declared with a soft but yet very serious edge to his voice as he kept his gaze locked onto Dawn's face and took her small left hand in his.

"Is…is Buffy…," Willow stammered out as she rather noticeably tripped over her words in a feeble attempt to discern the whereabouts of her former best friend.

"I don't know where she is Willow, we all separated to find you guys before the firefight happened, my people are out looking for her and Spike as we speak, if…when they find them they'll radio in, until then it's best that we remain here and tend to the wounded," Angel interjected with a very serious and non argumentative tone to his voice as he rubbed the back of Dawn's hand with his right thumb before laying her hand back down onto her hip.

"What happened, one minute I'm about ready to cast a thy will be done spell with Dawn safe and sound beside me and the next thing that we know Gunn and Fred show up and we get dropped into the middle of the Twilight Zone," Willow wondered aloud with a tired yawn as she pulled up a chair and sat down beside Dawn's bed, but on the opposite side from Angel.

"We're still trying to figure that out…but one's thing that's for sure, they knew what they were doing…almost like…damn," Angel began to reply with a nervous scowl on his face before a smell clicked in the back of his mind and he clenched up his right hand into a fist before he snapped it back, sending the small cart sailing up into the air and crashing loudly into the far wall.  Willow tensed up like she expected to be next as she used her tiptoes to slowly push herself away from the bed, hoping that Angel's sudden and violent outburst wouldn't continue.

"A…Angel," Willow tried to say in her calmest voice but all that came out was a slight whimper before Angel turned his glare her way and cut in.

"I knew I had smelled that scent before…but what the hell is the Initiative doing here in Sunnydale," Angel interjected with an incredibly furious scowl on his face as he leapt to his feet and began to angrily pace around the room, seemingly in a fit over trying to figure out the exact reason as to the Initiative's presence in Sunnydale.

"The…Initiative, this can't be good," Willow asked with still a very nervous and slightly scared look on her face as she slowly backed up against the wall furthest away from Angel.

"Tell me something I don't know…stay here, I'll give the doctors the authorization and they'll help Dawn…," Angel stated with a very clear and calm inflection to his voice before he hurried out of the room, leaving Willow to finally let out the nervous breath that she had seemingly been holding since Angel's initial outburst.

The deep, powerful, and even beating of a heart was the first sound that greeted Faith upon her regaining consciousness.  Because of her enhanced slayer healing the sound of the heart had shaken her from her once deep sleep and tore her away from the best dream that she'd had since leaving prison.  A smile was splayed widely across her face as she slid her eyes open and almost immediately a gasp escaped her throat at the discovery of Wesley's right hand resting on the collar of her shirt, with his thumb tucked in between her skin and the garment.  Her mind boggled at how this had come to be but she closed her eyes for a moment and laid her ear back down over Wesley's heart and couldn't help but smile in relief at the steady beating.  She pulled her free hand back from across his body and intertwined the fingers of his right hand with her left and pulled them close before she leaned down and slowly placed a feather light kiss on the back of his hand, not caring when the spot that she had just kissed became wet with tears of joy.  She was about to close her eyes, snuggle up even closer to him, and try to resume the wonderful dream that she had been having before waking up when he mumbled softly incoherent in his sleep.  With a subdued snicker she smiled deeply and laid her head back down onto his chest.  Her eyes were almost fully closed before a painful sounding cough wracked his entire body.  Her eyes snapped open in seconds and even though her injured right shoulder protested wildly, sending skewers of pain through her shoulder, up her neck and down spine she fervently tried to wake Wesley up.

"Wes…Wesley," Faith hissed through fearfully gritted teeth as she tried her best to gently shake him away.  On the second attempt if worked and he lazily opened one eye momentarily before wincing deeply in pain and groaning.

"Nnh…Faith…," Wesley mumbled out in more of a ramble than in actual speech before he could manage to open both of his eyes wide enough to fully come to the realization that she was staring intently at him, concern clearly evident in the depths of her eyes.

"Wesley…are you okay, how do you feel, does your shoulder hurt, I could get a nurse…," Faith started to ask slowly as the concern deepened in her eyes before her fears overtook her and possibilities rambled out of her trembling lips.

"Fine Faith…I'm fine…," Wesley mumbled back softly in reply as he slowly and deliberately scratched a spot on his forehead with his free hand and took in a deep breath.

"Good…because now you can give me a straight answer about why you spur of the moment decided to play hero and oh so gallantly threw yourself in front of me and got a bullet in your shoulder for your efforts…you stupid jerk you scared me to death…," Faith grumbled angrily with a nearly furious scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly and for a split second seriously thought about giving one of Wesley's temples a thump.

"F…fundamental instinct, of humanity Faith, protect fellow members of your societal group…one's family, I've always fiercely protected those that I love…," Wesley grimly replied with a slightly sickly frown on his face as he kept his eyes closed and thereby didn't noticed the almost euphoric explosions going off in Faith's gaze.

"Lecture aside Wes I'm the nigh invulnerable one here remember, I'll be back on my feet in no time, but you're part in this is done…you could have been killed…you almost were," Faith stated as she tried to make it out to be one of her usual overly sarcastic jokes but she couldn't help but let out a touch of anger as she did so.

"Disappointed that I made it Faith…thought you'd be glad if I snuffed it…wouldn't have to…," Wesley declared sourly with a tired expression on his face before something snapped inside of Faith and her body and soul acted before her head could realize what was happening.

"Shut up, shut up…you stupid idiot shut up…I am not disappointed that you made it…I love you…so don't…," Faith exclaimed quickly, almost in an angry shout, as her left hand snapped forward and she forced Wesley to look her in the eyes, as she drew her head closer to his, before she gazed deep into his eyes until she saw that he was going to stay quiet long enough for her to get her entire message out.

"Gotcha…I got you Faith…," Wesley interjected with a proud smirk on his face before Faith went over what she had said in her mind and very nearly gasped in shock as her mind clicked onto the last few words that she had uttered.

"Yeah well…don't look all smug and make it anything more than it is, it was just a moment of weakness…one of my few so you'd better savor it and…," Faith uttered plainly with an angry scowl on her face as she glared down at Wesley before he smiled.

"I love you to Faith," Wesley cracked back with a sly grin on his face before he leaned in close and captured Faith's lips with his own.  Faith wanted to pull away and give him a piece of her mind for tricking her, even in his weakened state, to admit to her feelings for him but she was soon awash and mesmerized by the effect that Wesley's kisses had on her anger, instantly draining it from every pore and fiber of her being and replacing it wholly with a lust for her former watcher that she would have scoffed terribly at years earlier.  The last words to be heard before caution was thrown mercilessly to the wind came from Faith, "I can do gentle."

"Here pet let me get that for you," Spike whispered softly as he stiffly sat up, his torso still giving him grief even though most of the bullet holes had closed up, and helped Buffy wriggle into her bra, given that her injured shoulder was forcing her to try and do it one handed.

"Thanks…my shoulder still feels like shit," Buffy grunted back her appreciation at first before she winced in pain at having to move her injured shoulder.

"Yet another example of slayer healing not being all that it's cracked up to be eh…don't worry luv, I doubt it'll leave a scar," Spike quipped with an uneasy smile on his face at first before he leaned down and lightly kissed the spot of Buffy's injury, sending pleasurable pain through her shoulder and chest.

"It'd better not, or else bikini season is a lost cause…," Buffy joked with an impish smirk on her face as she scrunched up her nose and turned back to Spike before continuing, "but that's not important right now, we have to figure out how to get back to Angel and the others and alert them to the Initiative's presence here in Sunnydale."

"After last night I'm pretty sure that they all got the message, loud and clear," Spike added grimly as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and wriggled his toes a bit as he stared down at them.

"But with that explosion and the ubervamp…Spike, even though they kicked me out I have to know that everyone's…that they're not…and what about Molly and Angel's crew," Buffy started to drabble on softly as her bottom lip began to quiver a bit and a lone tear rolled down her cheek before she was drawn into Spike's arms and he tried to soothe her fears away.

"We'll find them Buffy, even if I have to get along with that prick Finn," Spike stated very clearly, his voice full of certainty and honesty, before Buffy pulled back a bit and wiped away her tears.

"Good, because I have the feeling that Riley's going to have more than a few questions for us before he lets us go…got a cigarette…," Buffy interjected with an almost annoyed frown on her face before she scrunched her face up again and looked hopefully to Spike.

"I think so…just one though…we're going to have to share it though," Spike answered with a slightly optimistic smile on his face as he produced a pack of cigarettes from his left front pocket after fishing around in it for a time and pulling one cigarette from it. 

"Fine with me…," Buffy said with a tired yawn as she leaned forward, grabbed the lighter off of the nightstand and handed it to Spike, who wasted little time in lighting the cigarette up before taking a drag and handing it to Buffy.

END OF CHAPTER 19


	20. Rewrite

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created, like Kelli.**

**Author's Note:  Sorry for this being so late but I was almost done with this chapter when my computer somehow deleted it, forcing me to write it all over.**

**CHAPTER 20-REWRITE**

Angel knew the intermingling scents well, not together like they were at the moment but each individually.  He had caught the scent first on Wesley years earlier; smiling awkwardly at the scent of a bleached blonde had hit his nose.  The scent had seemingly radiated off of Faith almost continuously for years, although with each male half of the scent being different.  But on this night, as Angel tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply he couldn't help but  draw in the scent of two of his best friends taking the initiative in their relationship and not letting an opportunity slip by them.  Angel had posted a few guards near the recovery room that Wesley had been brought into, making sure that he had only selected the deaf guards to keep watch over the area that night.  Much to his surprise Angel had discovered that for many jobs deaf guards were ideal, for they were not prone to falling for the simplest of distractions and were also less likely to be caught goofing off by listening to music or something of that nature.  Instead he found them to often take the job more seriously than the rest of the guards and he often found himself embroiled in one conversation or another with them, after nervously asking Fred to teach him sign language, only to be interrupted by the duties of his position.

"Sir…the report that you asked for is finished, Ms. Hancock will brief you on the details shortly," One of the lab techs told Angel, with an absolutely petrified smile of respect on his face, before he nearly sprinted back to the hastily set up lab to continue research.

"Ms. Hancock, hmm…I don't remember anyone by that name," Fred wondered with a confused and not completely approving pout on her face as she followed Angel into the conference room, which was housed in one massive trailer that had been built to be a fully capable mobile base for Wolfram and Hart.

"Maybe she's new, don't know if you've checked lately Fred but our turnover rate is astronomical," Gunn sullenly added with a shrug of his shoulders as he pulled out a seat and unceremoniously slumped down into it.

"But how…I mean sure we've fired a lot of people and demons since taking over but…," Fred asked with an impatient, at there being a problem that she didn't know the answer to, frown on her face as she put he reading glasses on and turned to Angel.

"Gunn means that our employees have a nasty habit of dying in the line of duty, hazards of working for an evil law firm I guess," Angel replied with a tired and nervous sigh as he slipped into the head chair and looked around the room, hoping that the briefing wouldn't be to long.

"How's Wesley," Lorne asked glumly as he sat down in his own seat, holding a bag of ice to his throbbing head in one hand while swirling the ice cubes around in his drink with the other.

"The doctors say that he'll recover, they're not sure if he'll have full range of motion yet…but we can always be optimistic about his chances right…," Angel started to reply with a bored frown on his face before a door at the far end of the room slid open and a young, at least to Angel, woman slowly and calmly strolled into the room, her arms full of files and notebooks.  Feeling antsy and nervous Angel bolted upright out of his seat and hurried around the table.  "Here let me help you with, those…," Angel started to say with his best winning smile before the young woman turned to him and her eyes grew wide as she took a quick step back, seemingly not being completely sure about what is was that Angel wanted.  "Wait…I'm not going to…," Angel blurted out with a worried and confused frown on his face before he turned back towards the table, silently pleading for help.

"Uh Angel-cakes…maybe it'd be best if you sat back down and let me handle this, you seem to be scaring the pretty lady," Lorne offered with a hopeful smile on his face as he slowly got up from his chair and made his way around the table.

"Okay…," Angel said softly with still a confused and somewhat apprehensive expression on his face before he reluctantly made his way back to his seat and sat down, his gaze fixed firmly on the young woman, who didn't seem to be the least bit intimidated by Lorne as she calmly set the stack of files and notebooks down onto the conference table and turned to face Lorne.  Angel watched carefully as Lorne proceeded to talk softly to the woman, making sure to look as peaceable and harmless as possible.  Just when he was about to mutter an off color joke under his breath Angel snapped to attention as the young woman cocked her head to one side and signed a question to Lorne.  "She's deaf…," Angel muttered softly under his breath in shock before Fred turned to him and scowled heavily.

"Well everyone…this is the lovely Ms. Hancock, she just transferred in from the Miami office, and as you may have noticed she's…," Lorne began politely after signing a few more questions and getting a seemingly positive answer, every few seconds turning back to Ms. Hancock to seemingly get her approval to continue, as he turned back to look at Angel across the table.

"Deaf…yeah Lorne we can see that, thanks," Angel interrupted with an impatient and somewhat guilty scowl on his face as he glanced down at the files in front of him on the table and tried to look overly busy.

"Now Angel, there's no need to be rude, Julia here is going to be briefing us…," Lorne shot back with a rather scolding look on his face as his red eyes glared straight at Angel before the vampire threw his hands up in defeat and sighed deeply.

"Fine Lorne…you win, alright Ms. Hancock…proceed," Angel stated with a rather glum frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair and rested a blank pad of paper on the arm of the chair, aimlessly doodling away as the briefing began.

Faith carefully and lightly traced the scar around his right wrist with her index finger before she did the same with the scar on his left wrist.  After finishing she stared at them silently for several seconds, remembering each second of the encounter all of those years ago as she had gleefully lashed him to a chair before trying to break him.  To keep the uprising of emotions within from consuming her she moved on to other some of the other scars that seemed to create a grisly road map across his flesh.  She began making mental notes of each scar, cringing slightly as she came upon one that she remembered having given him or at the sight of her heart would flutter sharply, giving her cause to believe that she had inflicted that pain upon him even though her memory did not contain the engram of that act.  Her heart almost leapt out of her chest as she caught sight of, through a wide yawn, a rather familiar scar.  She knew that she had not given him that scar that night, or any other night that she had known him for that matter, because she had not used any firearms in her act of rebellion that night.  The scar looked a more than a couple of years old and Faith furiously wracked her brain to try to remember if she had received a visitor during that time.  A bone chilling memory awkwardly and abruptly screamed through her head like a runaway locomotive.  Nearly three years earlier Angel had come to visit her and tried his best to sound upbeat and cheerful but she had seen through his façade even before he had begun speaking.  There had been such a sadness in his eyes that night that Faith had been sure that someone close to him had died.  She had clenched her hands into fists so tight that her fingernails had dug into her palms, drawing blood, to keep from almost outright begging Angel to tell her who it was.  But that night Angel had reformed his resolve and had used a flimsy excuse about him being tired and the work getting to him to explain his appearance and almost ghostlike posture in the chair across the glass from her.  The day that she had been liberated from prison she had expected it to be Angel, and truth be told when Wesley had sat down on the other side of the glass she had seen that very same look in his eyes.  She had nearly bolted back to her cell at the sight but fought back against her inner demons and slouched down into the seat, giving him one of her usual sarcastic one liners.  But as the short conversation progressed she caught wind of something else in both his posture and the look in his eyes.  The bleak and terrified look that he had come in with was gone, replaced beautifully with a gaze that had riveted her straight to her seat.  In the depthless blue sea of his gaze she had seen first flaking glimpses of hope, cast about like flowers at a funeral after a loved one's passing, before the flint had been struck and the kindling of another, much more powerful, emotion set ablaze.

What she had seen in his eyes that day had scared her and had almost become the stuff of nightmares, at least for Faith, before he had arrived in Sunnydale nearly clinging to life.  Her heart had fought valiantly against her head, and fears, in her treatment of her former watcher those first few hours after he had passed out, finally winning out in the end.  Silently Faith turned her gaze momentarily away from Wesley and looked around the room, wondering if the feelings that were welling up inside of her before bursting out like a volcano's eruption were what if felt like to truly be in love.  She had heard countless sober and drunk bar patrons and what Faith termed, losers, on television wailing on and on about what love was and how to find it.  But now, as it seemed that love had quietly snuck up from behind and burrowed deep into her heart, she found that she no longer cared if she knew exactly what true love was or if it were even possible.  But she knew that the feelings that stirred within her whenever she turned back to look at Wesley were ones that she wanted to explore further, giving them the time and patience that she guessed that they'd need to blossom.  Pouting sadly Faith had to bite her bottom lip to keep from letting a few tears slip out as she resumed her tallying of the scars crisscrossing her lover's body.  As she came to realize that sleep was quickly coming to claim her she leaned down and gently placed a kiss on Wesley's lips before laying her head back down over his heart and muttering, more as a promise to herself and as a threat to anyone anywhere that might be listening, "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again Wes…I promise."  And with that her eyes closed and she was asleep.

"So where do you think the wanker is, busy coming up with new ways to be a complete git," Spike asked playfully with a sly smirk on his face as he and Buffy walked slowly down a hallway towards a room that they had been directed to go to and wait for Riley's arrival.

"Possibly…but I'm hoping that he's actually here because he and the Initiative want to help, rather than just getting in our way…again," Buffy replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders, an act that instantly brought with it a hiss of pain and Buffy nearly doubling over in pain as the effects of the drugs that she had been given while asleep had started to wear off.

"Buffy…," Spike exclaimed with a very worried and exasperated look on his face as he rushed to her side and slipped an arm around her waist, being careful not to put any pressure on her injured shoulder.

"No…I'm okay, really," Buffy replied weakly, softly pushing Spike back before she straightened up and leaned in and gave him an apologetic kiss after spying the hurt look on his face.

"Alright pet, but if that happens again I'm taking you back to bed," Spike said softly as he stared down at Buffy while trying to sound firm and unwavering.

"Mmm…that a promise Spike…if I'm a bad girl you'll…," Buffy joked back, letting her voice, full of innuendo, trail off at just the right point as she started to lean back in for another kiss before they were rudely interrupted by a voice from the doorway of the room just a few feet in front of them.

"You're late," Riley interjected with an annoyed scowl on his face and his arms crossed as he glared down the hallway at Spike and Buffy.

"So what soldier boy, gonna give us detention," Spike quickly quipped back with a daring and sly grin on his face while the twinkling in his eyes gave him away as Buffy knew that Spike was only pumping himself up for a full blown argument with Riley.

"Something like that…," Riley replied with a delighted smirk on his face before he turned and walked fully into the room, finally coming to a stop behind a long rectangular table, taking a seat to the right of an elderly man that looked like he had been alive since the beginning of time.

"What the…okay I don't know who all of you people are but…," Buffy began to ask with a nervous smile on her face, as she looked back and forth at the faces seated behind the table, before she was rudely interrupted by a rather stern looking woman that would have made a pile of mud look good.

"That's quite enough Ms. Summers, sit down, you to vampire," The old woman stated with a very scornful and disappointed scowl on her face as she pointed to two very uncomfortable looking chairs set in the middle of the room, far away from any of the others.

"I have a name you know, you'd be wise to remember that luv," Spike gruffly protested with an angry glare on his face that Buffy knew well, it was one that was only reserved for those that Spike could and would never get along with even if he lived to be well over a thousand.

"We're well aware of that demon, we'll remember to put it on your tombstone after this is over…or maybe a doggie bag would be more appropriate in your case sine when we're through with you there'll only be a pitiful pile of dust left over…he he," The old man cackled with a delighted and very mocking tone to his voice as he only barely looked Buffy's way and made it a point to not look anywhere close to Spike before returning his gaze down to the papers in front of him.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself mate…what if I'm not inclined to play along," Spike exclaimed with a daring but yet very threatening sneer on his face as he tried to glare a hole straight through the old man.

"Whether you volunteer or not vampire, we will get what we want," The old man calmly replied with a readily cocky smirk on his face before the room was suddenly filled with Initiative guards, each making it clear that it would be futile for Buffy or Spike to attempt any form of escape or to make any attempt on the life or health any of those sitting behind the table.

"Yeah…and what's that, Viagra," Spike joked back quickly as he seemed to be beginning to enjoy trading barbs even through the overwhelming odds stacked against them while Buffy turned away and tried her best to keep from allowing the edges of her mouth to curl up into a smile.

"Truly pathetic…no, if you have not noticed by now we are fully in control, and unlike the last ruling council we will not let such an opportunity slip through our fingers again, a vampire with a soul and the longest living slayer in history, after we slice you both up we will learn your secrets," The old man interjected with a proud and sinister smile on his face before the other members behind the table, oddly enough including Riley, nodded their approval in earnest.

"Cut us up…over my dead body," Buffy demanded with a very furious and certain scowl on her face as she started to take a step forward but the words of the next to speak stopped her dead in her tracks.

"That's the idea Buffy…that's the idea," Riley interjected with a wide smile of approval on his face as he leaned back in his chair before he couldn't help but begin to chuckle.

The presentation had gone off better than Angel had expected.  Ms. Hancock seemed to really know her stuff and after his initial blunder at the discovery that she was deaf and that he had unintentionally scared her she seemed to be less edgy around Angel.  During the course of the meeting Angel had caught himself glancing up from one of the papers that she had handed him and taking note of every one of her features, a habit that he had picked up in his failed attempt to be an artist of any notoriety.  He had even caught himself smiling at how many times she had to stop signing a piece of information to push a stray lock of dark crimson hair back behind her ear, in a way reminding Angel of Willow when he first came to know her.  After the briefing Angel made sure to pull Ms. Hancock aside to ask her some more detailed questions.

"Anything on Spike and Buffy," Angel asked as he tried his best to sign the words, hoping that she'd understand him.

"No, but don't worry sir we'll find them," Ms. Hancock signed back with a confidant smile on her face and a twinkle in her azure eyes before Angel countered with his next question.

"Has Dawn regained conscious yet," Angel asked with a poorly hidden look of worry on his face as he inched a bit closer to the young woman.  Her only reply was to shake her head in the negative and shrug her shoulders as if to say that she didn't have any idea as to when Dawn would wake up.  "Great…just another wonderful day in the neighborhood," Angel grumbled with an angry and frustrated scowl on his face before one of his soldiers came running towards him, with a small bundle in his hands.

"Sir…we found this amongst the wreckage, Ms. Summers had it last but she must have forgotten it," The soldier stated with military precision despite the amount of fear that Angel could smell coming off of him in waves before Angel slowly began to unwrap the bundle.  He nearly gasped audibly at the bundles contents, as lying there in his hands, looking as innocent as new fallen snow, was the scythe.

END OF CHAPTER 20


	21. Shortcuts And A First Meal

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli and Ms. Hancock.**

**CHAPTER 21-SHORTCUTS AND A FIRST MEAL**

Faith jerked awake at what she thought was surely the first sign of an attack.  But as she waited for the attack to come, and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was able to make out, through the blinds the forms of the guards that Angel had posted outside of the room simply making their rounds out in the hallway.  Relaxing only slightly Faith slowly and reluctantly pulled away from Wesley so as to not disturb or wake him up.  As she sat up Faith let the blanket drop down to her waist and began to gently and cautiously poke her right shoulder with her left index finger, hoping that it was all healed.  Her question was quickly answered as with the first poke she winced badly in pain and gritted her teeth tightly together to keep from making any noise that would attract unwanted attention.  While allowing a couple of pained tears to slip out through her guard Faith threw her legs out over the edge of the bed and tested if her legs could hold her weight.  With a relieved smile spread across her face Faith took a few steps towards her shirt strewn over the back of one of the chairs across the room.  With a grunt of pain Faith pulled her shirt on over her head and went in an earnest search for her pants.

"She was nice, don't you think," Fred asked with a sly grin on her face as she and Gunn slowly walked down the hallway towards the room where Dawn and Willow were being kept.

"Yeah…nice, sure, except was it just me or…," Gunn replied absentmindedly with a slightly confused frown on his face as he reached up and scratched the back of his head in frustration.

"Was Angel all over her after the meeting, no Charles it wasn't just you…but you know Angel, he probably just wanted to know more about something that she touched upon in the briefing, don't worry we'll…," Fred started to reply with a muffled giggle before she was rather abruptly interrupted by an armed detail of security guards leading four people down the hallway towards them.

"Ms. Burkle, Mr. Gunn…ma'am, sir…we found these four wandering around through the hospital, what do you want us to do with them," The soldier in charge stated with a firm and somewhat nervous tone of breath as he ushered the four forward.

"Molly…," Fred mumbled out more as a statement of shock rather than as a question before she dumped the files and other items in her arms into Gunn's arm and surged forward, pulling the stunned potential slayer into a warm hug.

"Nice t' see you to…Fred, uh Fred…I kinda need to breathe," Molly stammered out first in shock and then in relief as she returned the hug as warmly as he could before her air supply began to run out.

"Oh…sorry," Fred stammered out with an embarrassed smile on her face as she let go of Molly and glanced back at the rest of the quartet, with her eyes finally coming to a rest on Connor.  "Do I know you…," she asked with a confused look on her face as she squinted her eyes in an effort to help her brain figure the answer out.

"Yes you…uh no, nope…you don't know me," Connor started to answer with a relieved smile on his face before he caught himself and turned his smile into a scowl and stared down at his feet.

"Really…are you sure, because there's just something about you that screams that we've met before…something about the powers that screw…," Fred added with an unconvinced pout on her face before Oz stepped forward, ignoring the glares of the guards, and spoke up.

"It's complicated alright…we really need to see Angel okay, he knows me…," Oz explained with a nervous and impatient frown on his face before he put his hands up defensively as one of the guards took a warning step in his direction.

"Right, listen if we brought everyone that said that they knew Angel to him then we wouldn't get any work done, so unless you can do…," Gunn declared with a sarcastic frown on his face as he shuffled around all of the files that loaded him down and turned to Fred.

"Listen…Groderson, take them to a holding cell until we can verify their story," Fred continued with a stressed expression on her face before the guard nodded his head and started to turn back towards Connor and the others, only to be interrupted by a very tired looking Willow as she poked her head out of her and Dawn's room.

"Hey guys what's all of the…Oz," Willow started to exclaim with an almost annoyed scowl on her face before she caught sight of Oz and froze.

"Willow…what are you doing here," Oz stammered out with a confused and surprised look on his face before he wanted to move forward and pull his former lover into a warm embrace, but like her he found himself frozen to the spot.

"I…well I uh…I mean Dawn and I…," Willow stammered out with an overwhelmed, nervous, and overjoyed look on her face as conscious thought quickly left her far behind.

"Are being held under guard at the moment while we wait for Ms. Summers to get better," A scared doctor finished as he peeked out from behind Fred and Gunn to stare down the hallway at those assembled.

"Why are they under guard, they didn't do anything wrong" Kelli asked with an angry but yet scared frown on her face as she glared up the hallway at Gunn and Fred.

"Didn't do anything wrong…ha, they voted to kick Buffy out of her own bloody house, of all the dimwitted and downright shirty things to do after everything that she'd done for them…," Molly answered angrily with a furious scowl on her face as she spun around on Kelli and looked about ready to snap when a sleepy eyed Faith interrupted.

"Hey guys, keep it down will ya, Wes is trying to get some much needed sleep," Faith interjected through a tired yawn as she leaned heavily against the wall and slid more than walked down the hallway with her hair a mess, her feet bare, and her shirt on backwards.

"Faith…you're here, what happened to you," Willow exclaimed outright almost instantly upon laying eyes on Faith, with a slightly screwed up look on her face as she took in the image of the once feared slayer now looking a bit feeble.

"Oh you know Will…a little of this, a little of that…course getting shot wasn't part of the plan but…it all turned out well in the end so…," Faith replied with at first a nervous frown on her face before her countenance changed, ever so slowly, into a sly and then almost beaming smile that nearly made her face shine.  At the mention of being shot Willow's face went white and her mouth dropped open.

"You…you were shot," Willow softly stammered out with a very surprised and scared look on her face as he eyes grew wide before Faith chuckled and patted her lightly on the shoulder, stepping in between Groderson and the others guards as if they weren't even there.

"Don't sweat it Will, it's not like I haven't been shot before…," Faith joked with a slightly over eager smirk on her face before she moved her shoulder a bit to far and was forced to turn away to wince badly in pain.

"Faith…are you sure that you should be out of bed so soon," Gunn asked with a concerned frown on his face as he unceremoniously handed Fred her folders back.

"How's Wesley…," Fred countered with a worried look of exasperation on her face, for the moment ignoring all others in the hallway and focusing her gaze solely on the former rogue slayer.  For a moment Faith's face started to ever so slightly slip into a grin, hinting that she was just about to unleash one of her famed quips.  But just as her mouth cracked open her expression changed drastically to one that it had only worn as of late, a look of one worrying for a loved one.

"You know Wes, still the same old watcher, prancing about like he's got a giant stake shoved up his…English Channel," Faith was finally able to say with a forced look of uncaring as she only briefly glanced back at Fred before she returned her gaze to the blank wall, just in time as her eyes began to tear up.  Suddenly for Faith her unpainted toenails became extremely fascinating and she stared at them intently as she brushed by Willow and headed off down the hall, with the guards making no effort to stop her.

"I'm going to kill that bloody git…," Spike nearly screamed out in a rage before he continued in his storming around their cell in a fit.

"For once Spike, you and I are in complete agreement on something…I can't believe that he'd, no…wait, scratch that, I can believe that he'd pull something like this...I should have expected…," Buffy agreed with an unhappy pout on her face as she shifted her weight just a bit to try to get as comfortable as she could on the cot in their cell while not hurting her injured shoulder any further than the guards already had.

"Don't torture yourself pet, you couldn't have known what he was going to do, gotta give the bloke credit though…," Spike said with at first a reassuring look in his eyes before he squinted slightly and turned his gaze back up towards the door of their cell.

"Oh…why pray tell," Buffy asked with a confused and somewhat concerned frown on her face as she gave up on lying down at the moment and slowly and cautiously sat up.

"Least this time he had the balls to do more than just doing something stupid like storming into my crypt and staking me with a fake wood grained stake," Spike replied calmly with a passive expression on his face as he kept his gaze locked forward and his hands in his pockets.  Buffy furrowed her brows powerfully before she gritted her teeth and pushed off of the wall as she stood up and turned to face Spike.

"What, when did that happen," Buffy asked weakly with a tired and worried look on her face as she made her way across the cell to stand beside Spike, bolstering his confidence simply with her presence at his side.

"Well uh…a short bit before he starting getting suck jobs from two bit vampire trollops I'd say," Spike replied with an angrily nostalgic frown on his face before he turned away from the door and gazed down into Buffy's emerald gaze.

"Really, why didn't you tell me," Buffy demanded with an insistent stare straight back up at Spike, who flirted briefly with looking brave before his bravado shattered and he shrugged his shoulders before hanging his head in an admission of defeat.

"You had a lot on your mind pet, Adam and all…didn't think that you much wanted…or cared to hear from a lovesick vamp about what your boyfriend did in a jealous fit," Spike softly answered with a sad and even slightly embarrassed expression on his face before Buffy picked his head up by softly slipping the palm of her hand underneath his chin and lifting up until their gazes met.

"Don't ever think that way Spike, even when I hated you what you thought mattered to me, not that I acted the part though…you always seemed to be able to see the truth through all of the lies and half truths," Buffy whispered softly to Spike with a very serious and supportive shine in her eyes before the space between the two diminished significantly and their lips met.

In a nearby cell Robin was angrily pacing back and forth in front of the door while Andrew was trying his best to busy himself with an in depth observation of a fly as it crawled up and down one of the legs of the cot.  When they had been taken into custody by the Initiative Robin had begun to resist but Andrew had squealed in fear and instantly assumed the fetal position.

"Would you stop that…it's annoying," Robin snapped with a frustrated scowl on his face as he had to dig his fingernails into the heels of his palms to keep himself from smacking Andrew around.

"I can't help it…cowering is in my nature, I'm a born loser," Andrew moaned with a terrified look of panic on his face as he scrambled underneath the cot and tried his best to drag the blanket down with him.

"You're not a born loser Andrew, you've just let yourself believe what everyone was telling you for far to long," Robin stated with a hopefully sympathetic and not angry tone to his voice before he took a deep breath and walked over and knelt down beside the cot.

"I don't like this," Anya stated with an impatient frown on her face as she gazed sadly out of one of the windows of the large house.

"So what else is new," Xander muttered softly under his breath before he dropped his head into his hands and missed the sympathetic look sent his way by Kennedy from across the room.

"Where'd Sam go anyway," Anya continued impatiently as she turned away from the window and stomped across the room towards Xander.

"How should I know An," Xander replied with a bored and saddened expression on his face as he only barely lifted his head.

"Aw'm hungry," Kennedy announced loudly, more to break up the monotony of the sullen conversation of the two others in the room than because she actually wanted to eat, as she uncrossed her arms and walked towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going, Sam told us to wait here until she came back, she wouldn't be very happy if you went snooping around here without her," Anya exclaimed with a rather scolding frown on her face as she gave Xander one last glare and stormed over to Kennedy, placing her hand flat against the door to further prove her point.

"Get out of my way Anya," Kennedy stated clearly with an angry glint in her eye before Anya defiantly shook her head and stayed exactly in place.

"Just let her go Anya, it's not like she can get very far, this whole house is crawling with Initiative soldiers, she'd be lucky to get out of the doorway before one of them would tell her to stay in the room," Xander said with a bored sigh as he stood up and walked over to the window that Anya had been looking out of earlier.

"But…," Anya protested with a hurt pout on her face before she finally pulled her hand from the door and stepped away, allowing Kennedy to slip out of the room.

"Rise and shine Wes," Faith whispered softly into Wesley's right ear as she leaned over the edge of his hospital bed and turned on one of the lights with her free hand.  Her other hand was occupied by a medium sized brown paper bag.

"Hmm…Faith," Wesley whispered softly as his eyes flittered open before he moved a bit and winced badly in pain as he had moved his shoulder a bit to much.

"Hey now, take it easy will ya, I don't want you to break something that we might need later," Faith joked with sly smile on her face as she turned away from Wesley and turned the light so that it shone its beam directly down in between them.

"I'll be sure to remember that," Wesley retorted with a subdued chuckle as he opened both eyes and focused them on a point on the ceiling as Faith pulled up a small table on wheels in between them, placing it dead center in the middle of the beam of light.

"Sleep well," Faith asked with a nervous look on her face as she placed the bag down on top of the table and pulled another of the beds up close so that she could hop up onto it and cross her legs.

"For awhile…but then I got a little lonely," Wesley answered with a tired yawn as he carefully sat up, watched closely by an observant Faith as she kept her gaze locked onto him like a cheetah chasing after its prey.

"Sorry about that, but I was beginning to smell pretty damn rank and…," Faith began to explain with a slight shrug of her shoulders before Wesley's overly smug grin stopped her.

"Forget it Faith, I understand, and once I'm well enough I'm going to hit the showers myself," Wesley added with another yawn as he let his eyes roam up and down, taking it every square inch of Faith.  She had obviously ducked into the showers in her time away and now that Wesley's eyes had fully adjusted to the sole light in the room being in between them he felt that she looked more beautiful now than perhaps she had ever looked.  Her hair was wet but still retained its fluff and bounce, leaving Wesley to want nothing more than to run his hands through it and feel its softness.  Her clothes were next to catch his attention.  Gone were her bloody and grungy jeans and shirt from before, replaced with an old pair of sweatpants that he thought that belonged to Fred while on top she wore a shirt that he guessed to be Fred's as well, although in Faith's case the shirt seemed to be just a bit to tight in all of the right places.  Her lack of makeup and shoes and socks only seemed to further add to her allure as Wesley guessed that she had become comfortable enough around him to let down her guard somewhat.

"Yeah well don't take to long Wes because…not to sound hurt your fragile feelings or anything but…damn man you stink," Faith joked as she scrunched up her nose and tried to look disgusted but Wesley could see a smile outlined on the edges of her lips.

"Thanks…now are you going to show me what's in the bag or are we going to sit here and play twenty questions, decide quickly because it's not nice to play jokes on those in my condition," Wesley chided back with a smile on his face that he hid well as he dropped his head a bit and bent one leg up under the thigh of the other on the bed so that he could sit a bit closer to the table than before.  Wesley nearly had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing outright as Faith snorted loudly at his words.  The scent of roses, that he guessed to have come from the shampoo that she had used, and the unmistakable scent of one of Cordelia's fancy body lotions that she had nicked during a shopping trip to several of the fancy clothing stores in LA.

"Your condition, right…sorry Wes but your condition is your own damn fault, regardless of what you said earlier," Faith said with an unhappy frown on her face as she unrolled the top of the bag and stuck her hand in.

"Any news on who it was that shot us," Wesley asked, quickly changing the subject, as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat while Faith withdrew her hand from the sack.

"Not yet, but I didn't have time to ask Angel about it, he was to busy chatting up that new associate of his," Faith began to answer, noticing how Wesley's left eyebrow arched up at the news about the associate, before she continued, "but we can talk about that later, right now we have more pressing matters to attend to, like the fact that I'm betting that neither one of us has eaten anything for awhile."  With that Faith pulled her hand fully out of the bag and Wesley saw that it was a Styrofoam container that was fully laden with something that smelled delightful, causing his stomach to growl in accordance.  Wesley watched as Faith set the first container down on the table before reaching back into the bag and pulling out another similarly shaped container.  With a quick glance up towards Wesley Faith went back to the bag and pulled out two sets of knives, forks, and spoons before finally retrieving two tall cans of beer and some napkins before intentionally bumping the bag off of the table.

"Not since just before Angel and I rushed to Sunnydale to find you actually, so you're correct in saying that I could use a good meal," Wesley said back with a hungry look on his face as he picked up one of the Styrofoam containers and set it down beside the other.  With a quick bumping of the tongue of the container with his thumb it opened and Wesley was greeted by the pleasant aroma of a foil wrapped baked potato, packets of butter, large roll, baked beans, and a midsized steak.

"It's probably not what you're used to but…it was the only best that the mess tent had to offer at this point, I swiped the beer when no one was looking as I highly doubt that the docs would want either one of us having any yet," Faith said back quickly with such a nervous look on her face that he soon found himself feeling that Faith was trying to apologize for not getting something better and feeling like she had let him down in some way.

"You're right it's not, but this smells much better than any of that ever did and probably tastes better to, thank you Faith," Wesley hurried to say to relieve her knees before he proved his words by picking up one of the spoons and helping himself to some of the baked beans.

"You're welcome…just don't ask me to cut your steak, you're a big enough boy to do that on your own, bum shoulder or not," Faith cut in with a relieved smile on her face as she began to unwrap her baked potato.

"Point taken, so tell me something Faith, what's really been going on in Sunnydale, and don't leave anything out, no matter how stupid or unimportant you think it might be," Wesley asked with a concerned expression on his face in between spoonfuls of the baked beans as Faith peeled back the potato's skin and grabbed her spoon and packet of butter.

"You sure…cause this could take awhile," Faith replied with an unsure pout on her face as she dug into her potato while Wesley set about trying to cut up his steak.

"I've got the time," Wesley said back with a half smirk on his face as he cast a quick glance down at his injured shoulder and then locked his gaze back at Faith, who seemed bolstered a bit by his words.

"Okay then…but don't say that I didn't warn you…," Faith muttered softly before taking a deep breath and launching fully into her story, including everything that had happened to her since walking out of the Hyperion with Willow, including everything that she could remember them talking about to being initially confused about whether or not Spike needed to be staked or not, continuing with how Buffy had been voted out, and finishing with how she had been injured before Wesley had suddenly shown up on the doorstep. Neither one noticed, at any time during the duration of the story that they had an onlooker.

"Everything okay sir," A young guard asked timidly as she approached Angel, who stood leaning up against the doorway to the recovery room, watching Wesley and Faith eat and talk through the small window in the doorway.

"Not yet, but things are definitely starting to look up," Angel replied softly with a sincere smile on his face before he stood back up and walked back towards the mobile conference room for another appointment.

END OF CHAPTER 21


	22. My Fair Lady

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I've created.**

**CHAPTER 22-MY FAIR LADY**

"What," Sam exclaimed, nearly in an angry scream, after having discovered what had transpired in her absence.

"I was only following the council's orders Sam…," Riley sputtered out with a somewhat scared look on his face as he nervously took a step back from his angry wife.

"Again with the Council, God Riley…aren't you ever going to think for yourself for once," Sam moaned with a sorrowful sigh as she shook her head and turned away.

"The Council is the authority that governs us Sam, makes us better than the monsters that we destroy," Riley spat out with a proud proclamation at first before he sneered at the finish of his answer.

"The Council is only human Riley, don't forget that they've been wrong before, at first they didn't want us to get married remember," Sam shot back with a daring scowl on her face as she was almost literally daring her husband to rebuff her statement.

"Don't start with that again…," Riley grumbled with an unhappy scowl on his face as he pulled out a chair and sat down, determined to not get into another fight about their courtship.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Angel asked softly with a reserved smile on his face as he slowly pushed open the door to the recovery room and walked towards Faith and Wesley, taking careful note of Faith's initially confrontational reaction before she noticed that it was him and settled down.

"Course not…Wes and I were just sitting here…," Faith began slowly with a scared look on her face as it was clear to Angel that she was frantically searching for something meaningful to say, all the while casting Wesley's helpless glances.

"Throwing out ideas about the identity of our attackers last night," Wesley hurriedly spat out with a nervous expression on his face before he gave Faith a half shrug of his shoulders, resulting in him wincing badly in pain, an act that didn't go unnoticed by Angel.

"You okay Wes," Angel asked with a very concerned frown on his face as Faith only ghostly cast a glance Angel's way before locking her doe like brown eyes fully on Wesley.

"I…think so, that food did me a lot of good, although it did leave me feeling a bit drowsy," Wesley answered through a small yawn before he slid his legs out over the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing," Angel exclaimed with a surprised and worried look on his face as he hurriedly took a step forward and was about ready to force Wesley to stay in bed if he had to when Wesley cut in.

"To find the texts that I brought with me to Sunnydale so that I can decipher more of the ancient prophecies about the slayer and the scythe," Wesley interjected with a determined and forceful tone to his voice before he slid off of the side of the bed and was nearly ecstatic to find that his legs supported him and didn't give way.

"Hate to break it to ya Wes but you came close a couple of times to passing out in the middle of cutting your steak," Faith declared with a disapproving scowl on her face as she hurriedly slid off of her bed and was around the end of the bed and standing in front of Wesley before Angel could offer up his objections.

"But this is important Faith, unless either one of you has been taking deciphering of ancient texts and scrolls behind my back then I'm pretty accurate in believing that I alone need to do this," Wesley shot back with a very weary but now even more determined scowl on his face as he a bit shakily took a couple of steps forward.  He almost bumped into Faith but stopped just short as even though he didn't agree with her words he still wasn't about to force his way by either one of them.

"Faith's right Wes…you're still to weak from the surgery, there'll be plenty of time for you to decipher the ancient texts tomorrow…or the day after that, besides we have the scythe so…," Angel began with a calm yet serious tone to his voice as he laid a hand on Wesley's shoulder.

"But I feel fine…how can I possibly just lie there in bed recuperating when I know that everyone that I care about is in danger, if you won't let me go to the library at least bring the books here so that I can make use of my time, Faith can help me decipher them," Wesley stammered out with a frustrated look of anger on his face as he was desperately trying to reach some sort of an acceptable compromise.

"Wes…I don't…I mean those, fine…I'll have Fred arrange to have the texts brought here for you to decipher, but are you sure Faith's going to be much help in that department," Angel relented with a nervous frown on his face as he threw his hands up in defeat and shook his head before he cast a sidelong glance towards Faith, who didn't look to happy.

"Whoa there, what's that supposed to mean…," Faith blurted out angrily, more as a declaration than a question, before she spun around and aimed her patented pissed off glare straight up at Angel, who visibly began to wilt under the scrutiny after a few seconds.

"N…nothing Faith, relax, I never said that you were stupid, it's just that researching and stuff like that isn't exactly your forte," Angel stuttered out with a very nervous smile on his face as Wesley watched as almost every single muscle in Faith's body flexed in preparation for a fight. 

"My forte…how the hell would you know what my forte is Angel, you get a lot of time to think when you're stuck for days on end in an eight by ten cell with no one to talk to but a balding woman that hates to shower and nearly rips your heart out if you ask her why she hasn't shaved her pits…," Faith declared with a very forceful and forthright look of seriousness on her face as her hands found a handhold on Angel's collar as Faith made sure that Angel was listening to her and nothing else.

"Easy luv…we've all been through a lot, there's no need to get tetchy, besides your forte is whatever you want it to be, and from the searing amount of pain emanating from my shoulder at this very moment I'm quite sure that I won't be able to decipher an appendices in an ancient text…let alone the LA Times crossword, without your help," Wesley jumped in with a tired and fearful expression on his face as unintentionally he took a stagger step backwards and thrust his hand onto the small table that Faith had wheeled in between the beds to keep himself upright.  Before he heard Faith's worried gasp and Angel's shocked grunt Wesley's world descended into a pitch black realm.

"So we're agreed then, next time a guard opens the door you whack him on the head with that chair and we make a break for it," Spike whispered harshly with a serious expression on his face as he pulled his duster back on before searching under the bed for his missing boot.

"I don't think we'll get very far but it's the best plan we've got…uh Spike, it's at the foot of the bed…God we've slept together I don't know how many times but every time that it's over you always have trouble getting dressed," Buffy replied with a passive smile on her face as she half winked at Spike as she cautiously slipped her bra back on.

"Oh yeah…and who's fault is that, you were in such a hurry to get me naked that it's a surprise that I even have clothes left," Spike joked with an impish smirk splayed across his lips as he cast Buffy a quick wink before he leaned towards the foot of the bed in search of his boot.

"My fault, look who's talking…you've busted the zipper out of all three pairs of pants that I brought with me when we left Sunnydale," Buffy shot back with a lightly appalled look on her face that poorly hid the smile in her eyes as she pulled her shirt out from underneath one of the pillow's on the floor.

"Hey now pet, that was only because you ripped my favorite shirt to shreds…," Spike began to argue back with a look on his face that seemed to hint that he was finding less and less enjoyment out of their at first playful argument before he was rescued by the sound of a guard approaching their cell.  With Spike's help Buffy yanked her shirt on before she wriggled into her pants, pausing only momentarily to be glad that no one had seen her make the hurried effort lest they think that she was having a seizure before she pulled her shoes on and tied them, thankful that she had been able to keep her socks on.  Without making a sound Spike slipped his remaining boot on and scrambled to the door, taking his position on its one side while Buff grabbed a hold of the chair and crept across the room to the other side of the door and waited.  Seconds later a key was inserted into the lock of their cell and the door slowly swung open to reveal an obviously scared young guard, with his weapon pointed down at the ground and a plate of food in his off hand.

"Stay back or else I'll…," The young guard started to say with a shaking voice before Buffy brought the chair down across the side of his head, careful to only use enough force to render him unconscious and not to kill him.

"Not pass Go and will not collect two hundred dollars…what," Buffy quipped with an odd smirk on her face before she turned her gaze towards Spike and noticed the confused look that he was giving her.

"You need to get some better punch lines pet," Spike joked with an impish smile on his face as he dragged the unconscious guard over towards the cot and stuffed him under it, remembering though to relieve him of the ring of keys on his belt and his weapon.  "Here, you'd better take this," Spike whispered softly with a determined and intense expression on his face as he stood back up and handed Buffy the gun.

"What am I supposed to do with this," Buffy asked with a look of disbelief and slight revulsion on her face as she held the gun away from her body with her thumb and index finger.

"You point it at the soldiers and pull the trigger, problem solved," Spike replied with an unsure look on his face as he studied Buffy's reaction closely.

"I don't use guns Spike," Buffy stated with such an air of certainty and unwavering confidence that Spike knew that arguing was useless.  With an angry and grim scowl on his face Spike took the gun back from Buffy, ripped the clip out and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Happy now," Spike grunted with a frustrated and impatient look on his face before Buffy nodded her head and took the ring of keys from his hands before leaving the cell.

"How is she…," Oz asked with a worried look on his face as he turned back away from Dawn's bed and looked sadly at Willow, who stood with her arms crossed, staring sadly at the peeling paint on the wall.

"She should be okay…at least that's what the doctor's said, once they finally found time to squeeze her in," Willow replied with a very tired and weary tone to her voice as she fought to keep from tearing up.

"Who is she," Connor asked with an inquisitive scowl on his face as he walked over from his spot in the corner and leaned down close to Dawn.

"Buffy's little sister…one of the ones that kicked her out…bloody traitor…," Molly replied calmly at first before her temper began to flare up and she sneered as she grumbled out the rest, glaring menacingly in Willow's general direction.

"She…I, we were not traitors…we thought that," Willow exclaimed in a hurry, blurting out the words before she was even fully aware of what it was that she was saying as her eyes were rimmed with tears, as she swung her head around and glared across the small room at Molly.

"You thought that you were doing the right thing…I understand doing what's right even though it hurts like hell…," Oz commented with a melancholy frown on his face as he reached out and rubbed the back of Dawn's hand with his thumb.

"But what you did was not right, it was foolhardy and selfish," Connor added with a very serious and unabashed frown on his face, as if he was stating a well known fact instead of his opinion, before he turned away from Willow and stared back at Molly, who had been forced to tightly grip the edges of her seat to keep from throttling someone.

"Connor," Oz growled harshly with a shocked and angry sneer on his face as he half whirled around in his chair and glared up at the young man, but only got to glare at his back as Connor was already staring at Molly.

"H…he's…right, it was foolhardy and selfish," Kelli mumbled out softly with a scared and near tears expression on her face as she turned her head away from the wall and stared over and down at Dawn, intentionally avoiding the gazes of everyone else in the room.

"No it wasn't, it was…," Willow began in earnest with a defiant and combative grimace on her face as she took a step forward towards Kelli before her resolve failed her and she averted her gaze towards the floor, making a hasty attempt to save her pride.

"Wrong Willow, I'm sorry but it was, no matter how you look at it or how you try to portray it voting Buffy out of her own house was wrong, and no amount of philosophizing, whining, begging, or arguing is going to change that…," Oz declared very plainly with a very disappointed and saddened frown on his face as he tried but couldn't lift his head up to look Willow in the eye.

"But…Oz, it wasn't like that…," Willow sputtered out softly, nearly in a whisper, as her eyes filled with tears.

"B…Buffy…," An even softer, and more frantic, voice called out into the midst of the debate, instantly silencing everyone in the room, if only for a few short moments.

"Dawnie," Willow shrieked with more than a fair amount of relief and fear in her voice as she rushed towards the bed, absentmindedly shoving a startled Oz off of his chair.

"Buffy," Dawn repeated, this time a bit stronger, as one eye blinked open but instantly squinted tightly against the light.

"Sorry Dawnie…Buffy's not here, but I am…see, it's me, Willow," Willow stammered out with a sad and heart wrenching look of fear on her face as she sat down in the chair in one motion and took one of Dawn's hands in hers in another.

"Where…where am I," Dawn asked weakly with an unsure and somewhat scared look in her eye as she adjusted to the level of light in the room.

"You're in Sunnydale Dawn, you're in recovery…you've got a nasty cut on your forehead…but other than that you should be fine, so just lie back and take it easy okay," Oz interjected with as sincere and reassuring of a voice as he could muster at that moment while deftly avoiding any eye or physical contact with Willow.

"Oz…," Dawn asked with a surprised and confused look on her face as she attempted to cock an eyebrow but stopped when the action pulled on her skin a little to much and made her cut ache.

"He's here to help us Dawnie, help us make everything better…," Willow replied with a very shaky edge to her voice as Oz steeled his nerves to keep from protectively wrapping his arms around his former lover.

"Can't…can't be made better…it all falls down…," Dawn quickly mumbled back with a heartbroken look of desperation on her face before tears welled up in her eyes and began to run down her temples, wetting the pillow faintly on either side of her head.

"Ya got that right Dawn…," Molly grumbled with an unhappy frown on her face before she stood up, shook her head in dismay, and walked out of the room.

"I should…I'm going to…," Connor stammered out with a nervous frown on his face as he kept shifting his gaze back and forth between the door and Oz and Willow before he shook his head one final time and left the room in hot pursuit of Molly.

"Who's he…," Willow asked, without taking her eyes off of a still teary eyed Dawn, Oz as the latter averted his eyes for a few second before answering with a slightly shaky voice.

"Angel…he's Angels son," Oz replied with an eerily factual and calm tone to his voice before he pushed off of the bed and fully stood back up.

It was nearly an hour before he came back to consciousness.  Upon cracking his left eyelids apart his first few seconds of renewed sight was greeted by the image of an extremely worried and on the verge of frantic Faith standing over him, with her hands cupping his cheeks.  At first the fact that her intense stare of worry was fully returned Faith leaned in a bit closer before hoping against hope and whispering softly.  "Wes…," Faith asked very softly, now with a terrified look in her eye before she very nearly teared up as it registered in her mind that Wesley was indeed awake, and gazing just as intently at her as she was at him.

"Nnh…what happened," Wesley mumbled out before grimacing tightly in pain and lifting a slightly quivering hand to his forehead.

"You took a header straight towards the floor, scared Angel half to death," Faith replied with a haughty and almost mocking edge to her voice as she tried her best to appear to not be too concerned about his condition but Wesley could tell by the frantically fearful and wild glazed over look in her eyes that his condition was in the forefront of her consciousness.

"I think you overdid it earlier Wes, I'm going to have the doctors take another look at you, perhaps even evacuate you back to a hospital in LA…," Angel began to say with an almost scolding and disappointed tinge to his words before his voice softened up a bit towards the end.

"No…," Faith and Wesley exclaimed in unison, Faith a little more clearly and forcefully than Wesley, catching Angel noticeably off guard as he took an awkward step back.

"It's not my first choice either Faith…Wesley, but if what Ms. Hancock said is true this all is only the beginning of something much larger, and the presence of the Initiative in Sunnydale can only complicate things…then you'd be much safer back in Los Angeles," Angel responded with a deep in thought frown on his face as it was obvious that he wasn't happy about the circumstances that had placed him in his current predicament.

"The Initiative…what are those whack jobs doing here," Faith wondered aloud with a less than pleased and scornful scowl on her face as she unceremoniously made a spot for herself beside Wesley and hopped up onto the bed, with her feet half dangling over the edge.

"What they do best of course, follow their own self absolved world view where everything and anyone that isn't completely human is somehow…cursed…and the only way to help that soul is to…," Wesley began in between a couple of dry coughs before Faith shook her head and looked back towards him.

"Let me guess…shoot first and ask questions later," Faith inquired with an unhappy and unexcited smile on her face at first before her smile changed to a frown of frustration.

"Close…more like shoot first and have their heads jammed so far up their asses that they somehow keep from choking on their own shit…," Angel declared with a very disapproving and angry expression on his face as his countenance fell before a slightly trembling guard burst into the room.

"Yes…," Faith hissed with a very angry sneer on her face as if she felt that the guard had snuck into her bathroom as she was in the middle of taking a shower.

"M…Mr. Angel…sir, Mr. Gunn told me to come and tell you the good new right away…," The guard stammered out with an obviously terrified look on his face as Wesley, Angel, and Faith glared a hole straight through his head with their gazes.

"Well what is it…get on with it," Wesley drawled out with a weary and impatient frown on his face as he laid his head back down and stared up at the ceiling.

"She's awake sir…Ms. Chase is awake…and asking for you," The guard stated, now with a bit more confidence in himself before Angel's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he tore off out of the room, leaving the now even more terrified guard to turn back to Faith momentarily, receiving a one fingered salute from her, before he tore out of the room also.

END OF CHAPTER 22


	23. What's Your Malfunction?

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I've created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 23-WHAT'S YOUR MALFUNCTION?**

"She's been gone a long time you know," Anya announced with an impatient and poorly hidden element of worry in her voice as she checked the digital clock in the room before glaring down at Xander.

"I know An…I know, what do you want me to do about it, go out and ask the nice men with guns that don't particularly like us if they've seen a rather troublesome young potential with a broken nose named Kennedy," Xander joked with an expression of melancholy on his face before he lightly began to bash the back of his head into the wall farthest away from the door.

"Making jokes isn't going to help the situation Xander…honestly, I thought that you were better than that…," Anya began to say with a disappointed and downcast look on her face before the door burst open to allow an almost fuming Sam into the room, dragging a sour faced Kennedy behind her, her nose bleeding slightly.

"I thought I told you three to stay in here," Sam exclaimed loudly as she shoved Kennedy into the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

"See Xander, I kept telling you that she told us to stay here…but would you listen, no…of course not, you had to go and let Kennedy just walk right out of this room like…," Anya began, sounding very much like a stereotypical schoolteacher of old, as she spun on her heel away from the window and began to deliberately pace her way towards Xander across the room.

"Well what did you expect me to do about it…tie her to the chair and…," Xander started to shout back with a very determined scowl on his face, as he bolted up out of his chair and started to pace towards Anya before he was interrupted.

"Enough…both of you, God how did the two of you ever keep from killing each other long enough to get engaged let alone make it to the altar," Sam nearly shrieked with a look of total shock and disbelief on her face as she threw her hands up and forced herself in between Anya and Xander, making sure that neither got close enough to lay a fingertip on the other.

"This should be good," Kennedy thought with an amused grin on her face as she sat down in the chair that Xander had only just vacated and waited for the fireworks to begin.

Buffy and Spike moved silently through the halls of the large house, ducking in and out of closets and unused room as need be. Spike had almost instantly caught the scent of the man that had put the two in prison in the first place. He had wanted to instantly weave their way through the guards and wring Riley's neck where he stood, but Buffy thought better of it. Laying her own deep-seated and recently resurrected feelings of betrayal and deception aside she decided, spurned on by her still very sore shoulder and the fact that it was still daylight out, that exacting any form of revenge upon Riley would have to wait. Their escape from confinement had stayed a secret for almost an hour; just enough time for the two to duck into a large room that they thought was empty.

"Come on pet let's hide in…bloody hell," Spike whispered aloud with a slightly nervous hitch in his breath as he jerked a side door open and pulled Buffy inside before his senses went berserk.

"What Spike…what is…ah shit," Buffy asked harshly back in a whisper before an oddly familiar squeak of surprise caught her attention.

"Buffy…," Kennedy exclaimed with a very surprised expression on her face as she tumbled forward out of her chair and scooted away on her backside as Anya tensed up and tried to smile, Xander froze in place, and Sam instantly raised her gun and leveled it at the pair, ready for anything.

"Buffy…Spike, how did you…," Sam blurted out, more in surprise at first, before she regained her composure and positioned herself in between Spike and Buffy and the others.

"Like we'd tell you…Mrs. Cardboard, probably go run off and tell the good Captain…," Spike mocked with a sly smirk on his face as he stepped in front of Buffy and began to slowly and pointedly walk straight forward towards Sam, with his eyes never leaving hers.

"I've heard about you, William the Bloody…Scourge of Europe, gained your name and your fame by torturing your victims with a railroad spike…," Sam began, trying her best to sound confident and unafraid, as she raised the butt of her gun to her shoulder, aiming it straight at Spike's head.

"Ah the good old days," Spike joked with an impish grin of fake nostalgia on his face as he could smell the tidal wave of fear being valiantly held back by all of Sam's training and nerve as he sauntered towards her, making it a point to keep one eye on the trigger of her gun and the other straight ahead into her eyes.

"I'll good old days you…," Sam muttered with an angry and defiant glint in her eye before she pulled her finger away from the trigger and leapt at Spike, intending to smash his face in with the butt of her gun.

"Spike…," Buffy shouted with an alarmed and almost frantic feeling throughout her body as she scrambled forward to shove Spike out of the way of Sam's unexpected attack. But much to her surprise it seemed as if Spike had anticipated, if not hoped, that Sam would do something as rash as dare to attack him head-on. Anya watched in a stunned silence as Spike ducked underneath Sam's first swing and aimed a kick for her stomach, but halfway through the act of kicking Sam Spike's injuries caught up to him and he grunted in pain as his foot slammed hard into her waist, hitting straight on her belt buckle. Sam let out a low grunt, dropped her weapon, and collapsed bent over to the floor, holding her stomach.

"Damn…bloody," Spike cursed with an angry scowl on his face as he scooted back away from Sam, gritting his teeth at the pain in his gut.

"Dumbass…what the hell you do think you were doing…she could have shot you," Buffy growled with an angry and slightly mocking frown on her face as she hurried forward, grabbed Spike under his arms, and rudely pulled him back up to his feet, causing her injured shoulder to scream out in pain.

"Ow…," Sam moaned softly under her breath as she winced in pain and rolled over onto her side while Xander and Anya rushed to Sam's side, trying to help her stand.

"Are you crazy…you…," Anya exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she aimed her best glare Spike's way before Buffy tried desperately to remember why she hadn't snapped the vengeance demon's neck years ago.

"So she just…woke up…just like that," Angel asked with a look of disbelief and confusion on his face as he wrung his hands in frustration and to try to calm his raging nerves.

"Yes sir...as you said, just like that," Ms. Hancock signed with a nervous frown on her face as she was glad that the lights had burnt out in the limo, making it dark enough for her to hide the look of sadness on her face while still allowing her to sign answers and questions back to Angel.

"But how, I mean…the doctors said that there was no way to tell when…or even if she'd ever wake up," Angel questioned openly with an extremely nervous and frustrated expression on his face as he was visibly jittery.

"I don't now sir…I'm as surprised as you are, honest," Ms. Hancock signed back with an honest look on her face as she leaned back in her seat and glanced out of the window through the specially tinted windows.

"Is she okay…has she said anything…what does she know…does she remember…," Angel absentmindedly muttered as he began to shift uncomfortably in his seat, reminding the driver of a small boy waiting in the waiting room of a doctor's office.

"I don't know Mr. Angel…, I was only told that she had woke up and wanted to see you right away," Ms. Hancock answered with a deep breath and shrug of her shoulders before she let her glasses slide down her nose a bit so that she could rub her tired and weary eyes.

"Are you okay…you don't look so good," Angel asked, concern evident in his voice, as he leaned forward and laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump a bit at his touch. Without wanting to sign her answer, knowing that if she tried to her hands would be shaking rather noticeably, Ms. Hancock only pushed her best smile to the surface and sadly nodded her head.

"Are you sure that he's okay Faith," A concerned Fred asked with a worried look on her face as she shifted the stack of files in her hands from one arm to another as she watched Faith slowly and noticeably reluctantly shut the door of the recovery room behind her.

"He'll be fine Slim…he just needs to get some rest," Faith replied with a concerned and tired look on her face as she turned to face Fred and took in a shallow breath.

"Well don't worry about it Faith, because what Wes needs he's going to get, I'll double the guard around his room and give them strict orders that no one save you is allowed to see Wesley until you or I say otherwise," Gunn added with a sincere and serious look on his face before he reached into the pocket of his pants, pulled out his cell phone and began to keep his word.

"T…thanks, you guys," Faith said softly with a nervous look on her face as she tried to smile but in the end it only came out as a half smirk that made her look a bit insane.

"Don't mention it Faith, Wesley's our friend to, and after what's happened in Sunnydale lately friends need to stick together," Fred said back with a tired smile on her face as she began to slowly browse through the stack of folders in her arms.

"No…really, thank you…," Faith repeated, this time a bit more forcefully as both Fred and Gunn stopped what they were doing and fully took in the honest and heartfelt look of gratitude on Faith's face.

"You're very welcome Faith, but tell me something okay…where'd Angel rush off to in such a hurry, nearly gave me whiplash," Gunn interjected with a slightly confused look on his face as he closed his cell phone and slipped it back into his pocket, just as Lilah came strolling down the hallway, looking quite grim and solemn for a change.

"He got some good news for a change, Queen C woke up, whatever that means…," Faith replied with a look of little understanding on her face as she shrugged her shoulders and felt a bit of pain as the muscles of her injured shoulder pulled tightly and cried out against their movement.

"So the high and mighty Cordelia Chase finally decided to wake up from her coma, guess she got enough beauty sleep," Lilah interrupted with an uncaring and slightly mocking smile on her face as she walked up to the trio and stopped just a bit behind and to the side of Gunn.

"A little advice Lilah, if I were you I'd just keep walking because…wait, did you say coma," Faith declared at first with an angry glint in her eye as she was pointedly warning her lovers former lover before a word that Lilah had said caught her attention.

"Yeah, Cordy's been in a coma for almost a month now…the doctor's didn't have any idea when…or even if she'd ever wake up," Fred replied with a nervous and pensive frown on her face as she glanced back and forth between Faith and Lilah, half expecting there to be a fight between the two any minute now.

"How'd it happen, she get stabbed in the gut to," Faith asked, momentarily reliving the moment that Buffy had driven the point of a dagger into her gut and sent the rogue slayer in a coma that Faith had felt would never end.

"Uh, not exactly Faith, you see last summer Cordelia…ascended to a higher plane of reality for a little while, Angel didn't take it very well…he dabbled into some very dark magic to bring her back, but he finally succeeded, although we didn't know it at the time Cordy didn't come back alone…," Gunn answered, a bit timidly at first as he kept glancing up at Fred with almost every other word, as he jammed his hands into his pockets and looked very uneasy being the one doing the talking.

"Wait…Cordelia, a higher being, that's the funniest thing that I've ever heard…," Faith joked with an amused look on her face and short laugh before she looked to both Fred and Gunn and found them not laughing.

"However improbable it may sound honey it's true, Ms. Chase became half demon to survive her visions from the powers that be and they moved her up to the big leagues, but then Angel had to go and muck things up by getting his girlfriend back…and we ended up with that bitch Jasmine," Lilah said with a highly amused smirk on her face as she stepped past Gunn and started towards the door of the recovery room that Faith had just come out of only moments before. Lilah had barely brushed her fingers against the doorknob before Faith instinctively spun around on her heel and grabbed Lilah by the shoulders before flinging her to the floor.

"I'm hungry," Andrew moaned with an unhappy frown on his face as he sat down on the cot and crossed his arms over his stomach, leaning over slightly.

"You're always hungry Andrew," Robin grumbled back at the former nerd with an annoyed and frustrated expression on his face as he resumed pacing back and forth in front of the door to their cell.

"No I'm not…it's just that if I don't eat something soon I'm going to get sick…," Andrew stated with a slightly sickly look on his face before he swallowed hard.

"They won't let that happen, I think that I've got a good bead on these guys, they don't seem to be the like to let humans starve," Robin said with a serious and a bit nervous look on his face before he stopped pacing back and forth in front of the door and sat down on the cot beside Andrew.

"Really…," Andrew asked with a very worried look on his face as he lifted his head up a bit and turned to look at Robin.

"Really Andrew, I bet that it won't be long before we're out of here," Robin replied with a sincere smile on his face before he took a deep breath and turned his head to stare back up at the door to their cell.

"Someone should say something," Anya said with a nervous frown on her face as she pushed away from the wall and stepped out into the middle of the room. Ever since Spike and Buffy had inadvertently stumbled into the room and got through the brief skirmish with Sam, who now was in possession of her gun again, those occupying the room had stared at each other nervously.

"You just did Anya," Xander mumbled softly with a half smirk on his face as he half looked up at her before she turned her sad look into a glare and aimed it directly back down at him.

"We shouldn't be here…," Spike whispered harshly back to Buffy as he ducked in between two of the windows to keep from getting scorched from the sun.

"Do you see me disagreeing with you Spike," Buffy pleaded with an exasperated look on her face as she spread her arms out wide to further drive her point home.

"Didn't say that you were pet, just trying to say that we shouldn't still be here…in this room, the Lady Cardboard over there'll call in reinforcements any moment, and I don't know about you but I highly doubt that they'll be able to refrain from dusting yours truly," Spike returned with a highly skeptical and sarcastic pout on his face as he eyed the rays of light for a few moments before joining Buffy out in the middle of the room, skipping away from the spots of sunlight on the floor as he went.

"Stay where you are," Sam exclaimed with a very serious scowl on her face as she haphazardly reached behind her back for her walkie talkie.

"Or what Sam, you'll call Riley and he can stab us in the back again, or stake Spike with a fake wood grained stake…again, sorry but…," Buffy began to say defiantly with a serious look on her face as she took her place in front of Spike, partially to keep Sam from shooting him and partly to keep Spike from making another foolish attack.

"How did you…I mean Riley wouldn't do that, he's a good man…," Sam began to say in protest before a mocking snort from Spike brought an almost immediate halt to her narrative.

"Let me tell you something about good men Sam, good men don't try to run the lives of their significant other, they don't go get bit by two bit vampire trollops behind their girlfriends back, they don't…," Spike spat out with a very vindictive sneer on his face as he sidestepped around Buffy and began to take a step closer and closer to Sam with every pointed remark.

"No, you're lying, Riley would never do something like that," Sam exclaimed with a very angry and disheartened look of almost utter desperation on her face as she stepped forward away from Xander and Anya and closer to Spike and Buffy.

"You're wrong Sam, Riley…well he…," Xander began to say with a slight stutter before he found that his words failed him as Sam snapped her head back to stare straight at him, her face whiter than a ghost.

"He didn't think that he was…man enough…for me, so he had, no he paid vampires to bite him and drain just a little bit of blood…," Buffy interjected with at first a slightly shaking voice before she recovered and her voice hardened, all the while with Spike staring at her with a surprised look on his face.

"No…Riley's not like that, he…," Sam stammered out, clearly not wanting to believe what she was hearing but a part of her somewhere buried deep within her was starting to believe.

"I'm sorry Sam but he is…it took me a long time to get over Riley, but…I finally did, admittedly thanks in no small part to Spike," Buffy countered with a very truthful and sincere look on her face as she kept walking closer and closer to Sam, before sending Spike a quick glance back, her gaze full of love.

Angel nearly flew up the steps leading to the front doors of the hospital. Ms. Hancock had barely stepped out of the limo when Angel had flung the front doors open and rushed inside, not caring that he was getting quite a few odd stares as he had rushed in under the sun and finally stopped smoking when he reached the front desk. The location of Cordelia's room had barely left the receptionists lips before Angel bounded towards the first open elevator that he saw, knocking aside several people who were trying to get onboard. Ms. Hancock did her best to calm the almost instant hysteria and shouting fits that Angel's actions had caused even though most of those in the lobby just stared at her with confused looks on their faces. Angel meanwhile was fit to be tied waiting for the elevator to finally come to a stop and its doors to open. When they finally did Angel was the first to leap out of the elevator and race down the hall, looking to many like a young boy racing to be first in line to get a new toy. Angel nearly ran an orderly down as he came to a sudden stop in front of room 616, Cordelia's room. Taking a very unnecessary deep breath Angel shrugged his shoulders, turned the knob, and went inside.

END OF CHAPTER 23


	24. The Truth Can Hurt

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I've created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 24-THE TRUTH CAN HURT…**

"Why should I believe anything that you have to say…you're just trying to…," Sam growled with an angry scowl on her face as she tried to glare a hole straight through Spike and Buffy.

"They're not lying Sam, how I wish to God that they were but…," Xander mumbled out with a saddened frown on his face as he lowered his gaze to the floor and Buffy lightly backhanded Spike in the side to keep him from saying a snide remark that she had foreseen coming.

"But Riley he…he wouldn't, he hates vampires…," Sam stammered out, her complexion comparable to that of Spike's on his worst day, as she lowered her gun and nearly collapsed into the nearest chair.

"Got that right…and I've got the bloody scars to prove it, stupid wanker staking me with a fake wood grain stake," Spike spat out with a look of disdain and scorn on his face as he took a step forward and kicked aside an overturned chair, getting a small sniffle of sadness from Sam afterwards.

"This is all so ridiculous," Anya stated with such an air of certainty that everyone in the room, momentarily forgetting the merits of their own discussion for a split second, glanced up at her like she had grown an extra head before Buffy cut in.

"You know what Anya…you're not helping, I think it'd probably be best if you just didn't talk for awhile, and as for you Kennedy, don't even think about trying to sneak out of here and warn Riley or anyone else, Spike and I aren't going to get dissected if I have anything to say about it," Buffy interjected clearly as she slowly shook her head before Kennedy caught herself looking at the doorway and pulled her gaze away.

"Are you sure about this Dawnie," Willow asked with a very worried look on her face as she continued to push Dawn along down the hall, surrounded on all sides by armed Wolfram and Hart guards, towards the recovery room.

"No…not really, but Willow…I have to do this, I have to talk to them," Dawn replied weakly with a tired expression on her face as she sat slumped in the chair, elbow resting on the armrest and its corresponding hand holding the side of her aching head.

"Sorry Dawnie but I don't see what good it's going to do, they've already tried, convicted, and sentenced us…," Willow added with a somewhat angry edge to her voice before Dawn cut in.

"They had every right to…after what we did to Buffy…how could we," Dawn exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as a lonely tear slipped down her cheek.

"We thought that we were doing the right thing, we…," Willow replied with a very sad and sour frown on her face as she sniffled a bit to try to keep from crying.

"Didn't act very much like the friends…and family…to her that we always claimed to be, we're no better than the demons and vampires…," Dawn moaned with a heart wrenching hint of sadness in her voice before one of the guards spoke up.

"Got that right," One of the younger guards mumbled softly under his breath to the guard in front of him, just loud enough though for Willow and Dawn to hear. As he said the last word Dawn was nearly scared stupid by the sight of the edges of Willow's fingernails beginning to blacken.

"Willow…," Dawn snapped with a scared, nervous, and worried urgency in her voice as she half turned her head back around to try to get a good look at the witch pushing her down the hallway.

"But he…," Willow protested with an angry scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly on the handle on the back of the wheelchair in an attempt to contain and suppress her fury at the guard's off the collar comment.

"He's right you…," Dawn started to say with a very sad and almost pathetic frown on her face before she was interrupted by Faith as the rogue slayer turned the corner, a large stack of ancient looking tomes in her arms.

"Hey…watch it, you almost made me…," Faith started to exclaim with an angry scowl on her face as she turned to the side and glared around the edges of the books.

"Faith, you're here…look Willow, it's Faith we found her," Dawn announced with a surprised and relieved smile on her face as she lifted a shaking hand and pointed at Faith.

"Yes Dawn I know, I bumped into Faith before you woke up," Willow said softly with a nervous look on her face as she tried not to dampen Dawn's exuberance over finally finding Faith any more than she had to.

"Oh," Dawn mumbled with a crestfallen frown on her face as she hunched down in her chair and lightly scratched a patch of dirt on her pant leg.

"Don't worry about it D, everything's going to work out just fine, you'll see," Faith jumped in with a confident smile on her face before she started to slip past Willow and Dawn.

"Faith wait, I recognize what those are, those books have some very powerful magic in them, especially that one," Willow announced with a surprised and somewhat fearful look on her face as she let go of the wheelchair and turned to fully face Faith.

"Yeah…so," Faith joked with a slight shrug of her shoulders before wincing slightly in pain as her shoulder stretched a bit further than it should have and caused some tingling up and down her right arm.

"So…what are you doing with them, sure you're a great slayer…but let's face it Faith, you've never been one to actually…study, and magic…," Willow replied with an look of disbelief on her face as she crossed her arms and held her ground.

"Ya got me there Red…but these aren't for me, they're for Wesley, poor boy's gonna go batty waiting for his shoulder to heal up," Faith shot back with a sly grin on her face, mimicking the look of someone whose secret had just been discovered, before standing still in her place in wait of Willow's response.

"Heal up…wait, Wesley's hurt," Willow asked with a scared and worried look on her face as she uncrossed her arms and laid one hand on Dawn's shoulder and the other over her own mouth in surprise.

"Couple of those damn Initiative goons thought that I'd make good target practice, then ole Wes decides to play hero and push me out of the way, stupid idiot got shot because of it," Faith grumbled back in reply with an angry frown on her face, as she was trying not to convey the full amount of concern that she now had for Wesley's wellbeing in her voice, before Dawn interrupted her thoughts.

"He's going to be okay right…," Dawn asked, her voice shaking and faltering noticeably, as she feebly turned her body in her seat a bit more to face Faith.

"Sure Dawn, he's already on the mend…strong enough to…, uh yeah Dawn he'll be fine," Faith began to answer with a confident expression on her face before she realized what she was about to divulge a mere half a second before she did so and quickly stammered out the rest, hoping furiously that neither Dawn nor Willow would notice.

"Okay good, hey wait…strong enough to…," Dawn said with a relieved deep breath before she squinted briefly and cocked an eyebrow Faith's way and posed her inquiry.

"None of your business," Faith retorted angrily, though with a fully red face, before she turned on her heel and stormed off down the hallway, angrily muttering to herself with each step.

"Where are we going again," Kelli asked with an impatient frown on her face as she followed Molly through a set of double doors and into the remains of the trashed out cafeteria.

"Isn't it obvious," Molly replied without a hint of emotion in her voice before she knelt down beside one of the smashed vending machines and began to sift through the pile of dusty snack foods in bags.

"Ugh…you're actually going to eat that shit," Kelli groaned with an annoyed and slightly disgusted look on her face as shook her head and walked over to a still upright table and pulled up a chair.

"No Kelli, I'm going to carbon date the bloody stuff…of course I'm going to eat them," Molly shot back with a bit of a vindictive sneer on her face before she pulled several bags of peanut butter M & M's out of the pile and began to happily dust them off.

"But why not go and get some food from those Wolfram and Hart guys, they have a whole food tent and everything set up in the…," Kelli wondered with a confused frown on her face as Molly tore open one of the packages of M & M's and emptied them all into her mouth.

"Cause…I've always loved junk food," Molly replied through her mouthful of peanut butter M & M's with an excited smile on her face before she closed her mouth and commenced chewing.

"That stuff will rot your teeth you know," Fred stated with an almost motherly tone to her voice as she walked into the room, arms crossed across her chest and a slightly bummed looking Lorne trailing in her wake.

"It hasn't yet…," Molly offered up as an answer before she ripped open the top of another bag and was just about to fill her mouth up again when Lorne spoke up.

"But Fred's right honey, you keep eating that stuff all of the time and you'll rot holes clear through those beautiful teeth of yours, your smile's to pretty a thing…it'd be a shame to ruin it," Lorne interjected with a soft but stern edge to his voice as he walked out from behind Fred and looked down at Molly, whose initial response was only to fully sit down and blush deeply with an embarrassed smile spread fully across her face.

"See…told you," Kelli jumped in with a triumphant taunt in her words before she was silenced by a quick glare from Fred.

"So Molly, have you given any thought to what you're going to do after this is all over," Fred asked softly as she walked past a sad looking Kelli and helped Molly to her feet just as the potential filled her mouth yet again with M & M's.

"Don't know…," Molly mumbled through her full mouth with a shrug of her shoulders before she sat down in a chair at the table that Lorne had pulled up and smiled her thanks his way.

"You should do what I'm going to do, go home and try and act like none of this ever happened," Kelli interjected with a sincere and nervous frown on her face as she leaned forward in her seat a bit.

"That'd be the worst thing that either one of you could do, whatever life you had before you came to Sunnydale and learned that you were potentials is over, whether you like it or not, you're both part of a legacy that stretches back hundreds of years," Fred stated with a profound and proud look on her face, leading both Kelli and Molly to believe that there was more to Fred's words to them then simply a bit of advice.

"But what are we supposed to do, we're not the real slayer remember, we're just stupid potentials, waiting and hoping that we get lucky after the current slayer bites the dust," Kelli inputted with a somber and sullen expression on her face as she leaned back in her chair, tossed her head back, and stared up at the ceiling.

"You're not stupid potentials, don't ever say that, just because you don't have all of that strength and power…you're not stupid, you're still better than your average young woman," Fred exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she smacked her fists down onto the top of the table and glared over at Kelli, who snapped her head back down and looked a bit scared under Fred's intense scrutiny.

"Easy Fredikins…you're scaring the poor girl," Lorne stated with a timid smile on his face before he laid a gentle hand on Fred's back.

"Well good, she should be scared, this isn't a game, she should be taking this and what they're going to do with the rest of their lives seriously, not worrying about what color they're going to die their hair next," Fred explained with a worried look on her face as she stood fully up and turned to Lorne, trying to compose herself afterwards.

"What's wrong with my hair," Kelli complained with a defensive scowl on her face as she reached up and brushed her hands through her strands of purple hair.

"Nothing Kelli, I think it's just that Fred is trying to tell us that we're special and that we should put our talents to good use," Molly offered, desperately trying to play peacemaker, as she momentarily forgot about the two remaining bags of peanut butter M & M's left in her possession.

"That's right Molly, you're both special whether you become the next slayer or not, and I think that the two of you would be the perfect speci…I mean candidates for a program that I'm going to begin after we're through here in Sunnydale, given that Angel approves of my plans that is," Fred started to say with a somewhat excited smile on her face before her eyes grew wide and she hurriedly spat out the rest in an almost undistinguishable ramble.

"Okay…sorry but you lost me on the two of you…," Kelli asked with a confused frown on her face as she turned to Fred and hoped to get a quick answer.

"You Kelli, and you Molly, are going to be the first two young women in a program that I hope we will be able to duplicate with all…or most, of the remaining potentials," Fred replied with a slightly more optimistic look on her face as she looked first to Kelli and then to Molly, who by this time was in the midst of ripping open another bag of M & M's.

"Why us," Molly asked softly with a somewhat somber frown on her face before she uncharacteristically pulled one M & M out of the bag and popped it into her mouth.

"Because the two of you are the best, the brightest, the…," Fred began with a very energized and invigorated smile on her face as she looked like a five year old on a sugar high before Lorne cut in.

"The only two available…," Lorne joked under his breath with a sly smile on his face, one that quickly changed to one of great fear as Fred shot him a dirty look out of the corner of her eyes.

"So when do we begin," Kelli wondered aloud with a slightly less scared expression on her face as she held her hand out to Molly, asking for a peanut butter M & M.

"Right now," Fred answered triumphantly as she clapped her hands together while Molly shrugged her shoulders and dumped a few pieces of candy into Kelli's cupped hand.

He stood there in an awed silence, watching helplessly as she maintained the very same position that he had seen her in for what seemed like forever. He pushed the featherlike curtain away easily before not being able to help but grin at the sight of the woman he loved being bathed in a sea of golden rays of sunlight. His smile soon mirrored itself into a sad frown as reality caught up to him, from what he had been told he expected to find her berating the hospital staff in a fervent attempt to gain something better to wear than a simple and not very flattering hospital gown. But instead she still lay there sleeping softly, like a marble angel. "Son of a…," Angel started to mutter with a very angry sneer on his face as he fought hard to keep his game face from rearing its ugly head before being left speechless a second later.

"You just going to stand there and gawk at me all day handsome," Cordelia asked with a very plain and void of emotion tone of voice as she kept her eyes perfectly closed, before she couldn't stand it any longer and her calm lips broke into first a soft smirk and then a wide grin.

"Cordy," Angel stammered out in disbelief as had he still been human he most likely would have had a heart attack on the spot.

"There someone else making with the funny that I don't know about…," Cordy added with an impish grin on her face as she cracked an eye open and aimed her gaze directly up at the very stunned face of the man that she loved.

"What…," Angel asked with all at once a very concerned and confused scowl on his face before he snapped his gaze from one corner of the room to another.

"Were you always this gullible," Cordelia asked with a slightly put off frown on her face as she fully opened both eyes and sat up, casting an almost mocking smirk Angel's way.

"I'm not…wait a minute, Cordelia…what's going on here," Angel began to stammer out before he became very frustrated and demanded an answer.

"God you're thick…Angel…it's me, Cordy…no world threatening tyrant, just everyone's favorite…sometimes pushy…," Cordelia groaned with a roll of her eyes as she shook her head and stared at the lights in the room for a bit before resurrecting the smile that had made Angel's heart melt before and aimed it directly at him.

"Really…," Angel asked with a hesitant look on his face as more than anything he wanted to believe that Cordelia, his Cordelia, was back. But given what had transpired only weeks before he wasn't fully ready to accept anything, yet.

"Really," Cordelia whispered back very softly with as innocent of a look on her face as she was capable of having before she nervously slid her legs over the side of the bed and pushing off of the bed, propelling herself into Angel's arms.

"Hey handsome…you awake," Faith whispered softly with a somewhat worried expression on her face as she pushed the recovery room's door behind her softly before looking around the dimly lit room for a place to set her armful of ancient tomes and texts.

"Unfortunately," Wesley replied sarcastically as he slowly materialized into the light and carefully sat back down on the bed.

"Way to stay positive Wes, now come on and get comfortable, because I lugged all of these damn books up five flights of stairs for you and I'm not going to…," Faith began to say with a slightly pushy tone of voice as she grunted softly while setting the stack of books down onto the other bed in the room before she was interrupted by a snort of laughter from Wesley.

"Five flights…we're only on the third floor Faith," Wesley reminded Faith with a sly grin on his face before Faith leaned back out of the light just a bit so that Wesley wouldn't see her flush red with embarrassment.

"Hey now, I can take all of these books back to where I got them and leave you here all by your little…," Faith threatened with an angry frown on her face before she bent down and started to pick the stack of books back up. Faith waited for a few seconds, expecting Wesley to quickly come back with a quick retort of some kind, before she lifted the books off of the bed and started to turn around. As she turned Faith thought that she heard a soft whimper off to her right but at first thought nothing of it. She shook her head and took a few steps before she heard a sound that made her blood run cold, a sickly groan that could only mean bad news. "Wes…Wesley," Faith mumbled at first with a very nervous and scared half smirk on her face as she expected that he was only playing some kind of trick on her, but her heart and the books hit the floor at almost the exact same time that her gaze took in Wesley slumping to the floor with an uber vamp grinning madly behind him, it's mouth slathered in fresh blood.

END OF CHAPTER 24


	25. Don't Mind Me

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I've created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 25-DON'T MIND ME**

Faiths scream of both terror and extreme anger had barely left her throat before her left foot connected with the stomach of the ubervamp that had attacked Wesley. The ubervamp let out an angry grunt before the force of Faith's kick sent it reeling back into a pair of ubervamps that had, until that moment, remained hidden in the shadows.

"Wesley," Faith nearly screamed out at the top of her lungs as she tumbled back over the gurney and collapsed to the floor beside her former watcher. At first for a few agonizing seconds Faith got no response, but then just as the ubervamp that Faith had kicked roared in anger and sprang back up to its feet Faith's heart nearly choked her before she was finally able to regain her composure. "Come on Wes…," Faith spat out hurriedly as she got off of her knees and hauled Wesley up with her. Faith and Wesley were almost to the door when the sound of the bed that Wesley had just been laying in crashing into a far wall echoed throughout the room.

"Nnh…Faith," Wesley said as the words more trickled out of his mouth before he could muster up enough strength to slap his hand meaninglessly against the doorknob.

"Wes wait, I'll…," Faith gasped out, as the task of carrying Wesley all of the way to the door coupled with her opening volley of attacks on the ubervamps had left Faith just a bit winded.

"Faith…we…," Wesley began again, with a clear sense of urgency in his voice, as he collected enough energy to actually be able to latch onto the doorknob before he grunted loudly and turned the knob. Faith and Wesley stumbled out into the hallway, startling the guards on duty with their sudden appearance. True to their reputation the guards reacted quickly, which is probably what saved a great many of their lives as what seemed like a hoard of ubervamps came tearing through the recovery rooms window, sending a painful shower of glass shards at the guards and Wesley and Faith.

"So where to first," Angel asked with a nervous but excited look on his face as he opened the door to let Cordy out of her former hospital room.

"Oh I don't know…maybe a little shopping, maybe some lunch…," Cordelia replied with a carefree smile on her face as she paraded out of her former room, leaving a stunned Angel to follow in her wake.

"What…," Angel stammered out with a confused and slightly concerned frown on his face before Cordelia spun quickly around on her heels and beamed her perfect smile back at him.

"Come on Angel, lighten up…I'm not stupid, I know what's going on in Sunnydale," Cordelia exclaimed with a borderline annoyed frown on her face before Angel stepped up to the plate, albeit not in the grandest fashion.

"Y…you do," Angel stuttered out with an odd look on his face as he tried to decipher what exact game Cordelia was playing.

"Of course…one of the lesser known side effects of my existing on a higher plane of existence," Cordelia replied with a confidant smirk on her face before her countenance grew serious. "No let's go before Sunnydale gets pulled down into the tenth level of hell," Cordelia added with a very serious and really nervous look on her face before she grabbed Angel's arm and started to lead him away.

"Why…as someone that's actually been to the tenth level of hell I feel…compelled, to say that it's actually quite nice at this time of the year," Angel quipped with a sarcastic smirk on his face as Cordelia momentarily thought above shoving him out of the nearest window.

Connor and Oz had been on their way back to see Dawn when the sound of glass shattering and of people screaming echoed down past them. Before Oz could even get a word in edgewise Connor had sprinted off down the hallway, madly dashing by one stunned security guard after another. Shaking his head in frustration Oz dipped his shoulders and tore off through the hallways; madly scanning each and every turn for any kind of weapon that he could find for his werewolf senses alerted him early on to the presence of those that were definitely not human. Oz made it through a few hallways, picking up a momentarily left fire ax, before he rounded a corner and was almost knocked flat on his back by a sudden rush of nurses in a frantic effort to flee the fighting.

"Hey watch…ow," Oz exclaimed loudly as he first tried to weave his way through the stampede of nurses charging madly at him before a rather large nurse that he had briefly noticed earlier nearly ran him over.

"Get out of my way…," Faith screamed with a fair amount of fear in her voice, coupled with the drive of getting Wesley out of the fray before taking out her pent up frustrations on anything that dared and be foolish enough to even wink her or her lover's way, as she scrambled towards Oz. Faith was mere inches away from running Oz over when Connor reached out and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him out of Faith's way at the last minute, or so he thought.

"Come on Wes we gotta…damn," Faith started to add to Wesley in a nervous voice before Wesley tripped over one of Oz's feet and the two went sprawling down to the ground, knocking over a couple of guards who were rushing to the scene in the process.

"Wesley…Faith, are you okay," Oz shouted loudly, trying to be heard over the screams and the bullets, as he shook himself free of Connor's grasp and went to help Faith get Wesley back to his feet. Faith started to accept his hand back up to her feet but stopped and snatched it back away as one of the ubervamps flung two guards aside like paper dolls and charged towards them.

"Damn…where's a weapon when you need…," Faith angrily begins to mutter with a frustrated scowl on her face as she keeps one arm around Wesley's waist while she frantically starts to search the immediate area for anything that she could possibly use as a weapon. Oz began to react as quickly as he could; wildly swinging the axe in an upward arc with all of his might, but the ubervamp was easily a step or two faster, batting the axe away as if it were nothing.

"One…," Wesley mumbled with an almost cocky smirk on his face before the clamor of the room was punctuated by the sight of the back of the ubervamps head being blown out by a powerful shotgun blast.

"What the fuck…," Faith gasped out with a very shocked and surprised look on her face before she turned back to look over at Wesley, the smoking shotgun still in his hand.

"Told you I'd have your back Faith," Wesley mumbled with a pleased smile on his face before he unceremoniously passed out, dropping the shotgun at his feet.

"Wesley," Faith exclaimed loudly with a shocked and very worried expression on her face as she quickly moved to keep Wesley from banging his head on the rail that jutted slightly out away from the wall.

"Shit…," Connor grumbled under his breath before a torrent of ubervampires began to pour out of the once safe recovery room and into the hallway.

"I don't like this…," Spike stated with an unhappy pout on his face before Buffy threw a heavy blanket overtop of him and tried her best to stifle a snicker.

"Quiet ya big baby, God…why do I always fall for the whiners…," Buffy moaned with a sarcastic smile on her face before she couldn't help but laugh openly as she caught site of a pouty Spike staring back at her from underneath the heavy blanket.

"Hey…now wait a bloody…," Spike began to angrily protest with a combative expression on his face before Anya rudely poked him in the ribs from behind and shushed him loudly.

"This is never going to work," Xander objected with a very worried look on his face as he ran his hands nervously through his hair, careful to not snag any part of his eye patch.

"Shut up yuh big bahbee…," Kennedy said in a sad attempt to mock Xander but because of her broken nose everyone in the room stood for a silent moment, staring oddly at her, before they realized what it was that she had said and tried to smile as if they thought that her joke was funny.

"Okay people, now I don't like this any more than you do but there's definitely something going on here and from the looks of things, as much as I loathe to admit it, the Initiative seems to be looking the other way…my husband included…," Sam announced with a hurried and pensive expression on her face as she made sure that she had an extra clip for her gun and then took a deep breath.

"Does it help any if we say that we're sorry…," Buffy offered with a hopeful and innocent look on her face as she turned away from Spike and faced Sam.

"Maybe in another lifetime…let's go," Sam replied softly after a quick sigh and a moment of silence before she straightened up and walked to the door.

"Ray of sunshine that one…," Buffy mumbled sadly under her breath to Spike, who snickered a bit before he walked out of the room with Anya and Xander just a step in front of him.

"Ah don't like dis…," Kennedy groaned with a nervous look on her face as she shuffled out of the room, quickly sneaking a peek down a nearby hallway before getting into step beside Buffy and Sam as the latter shut the door softly.

"Well join the club…now keep it down and when we get stopped let me do all of the talking, otherwise I'll put you out of our misery myself," Sam replied with a rather cold expression on her face, mere moments before the rag tag group met its first patrol.

"Bloody hell…," Molly shouted in surprise as the sounds of the fighting reached the trashed out cafeteria, almost causing her to fall off of her chair.

"What was that," Fred exclaimed with a shocked and nervous look on her face before she quickly dropped her files down onto the table and turned to Lorne.

"Heh…I'll give you three guesses, and they're all bad news…with a capital bad," Lorne joked with a weak smile on his face before he threw his hands up in defeat and jumped behind Fred.

"Big help you are," Kelli grumbled with an angry but scared tone to her voice as she chided Lorne for his lack of courage.

"Hey now kitten, we all have our parts to play, mine just don't happen to involve a lot of fighting and bloodshed, least of all my own," Lorne shot back with an almost smug look on his face before Molly spun around in her chair and gave him an odd look before she joined into the debate.

"But that's taking the easy way out Lorne, you know that right…," Molly added with an impatient look on her face as she got up out of her seat and began to walk towards the double doors that led out of the cafeteria and into a long hallway.

"Hey…where are you going," Fred asked loudly, as she came out of the almost stupor that she had fallen into after her last comment to Lorne as Molly gently tapped her fingers on the wall beside the double doors that led out of the cafeteria.

"Home…where do you think, out there…," Molly answered as she smiled a cheesy smile at first before her look grew serious and she made a move for the doors, only to be sent flying back into the room as if she were made of paper as several ubervamps burst through the doors, snarling loudly enough to wake the dead. Fred tried her best to speak in the immediate aftermath of the ubervamps bursting into the cafeteria but quickly lost her voice as the killers thundered towards them.

"This is so not good," Lorne cried out in a panic in the act of diving under the nearest table, making a feeble effort to pull Fred down with him, but she stood steadfast against the oncoming horde.

"Oh…no, I uh…," Fred mumbled out through chattering lips before Kelli surprised even herself and tackled the frightened Texan with a running shoulder to the gut as the two then went tumbling awkwardly, and painfully, across the room until they finally came to a stop near a shattered window.

"F…Fred," Lorne shouted with a very worried look of fear on his face as he sat up and frantically began to search the room with his gaze before the fray was loudly interrupted by the heavy and constant sound of gunfire.

"Ow…hey, let go of…Angel," Molly grumbled softly in pain at first before she was suddenly pulled back out of the line of fire in such a way that her left hip bounced through a bit of broken glass, and within seconds she knew that she hadn't gotten through that patch unscathed. She fought back a less than ladylike curse before she brought her hand away from her hip and swallowed deeply at the sight of her hand being covered in blood.

"Stay here," Angel ordered with a barely nervous glint in his eyes as he gave Molly a quick look before he hurled himself at the nearest ubervamp, the two going down in a cloud of dust.

"Damn…," Molly growled loudly with an angry scowl on her face as she pressed her hand back over her hip, which at that moment began to tingle.

"Are you okay," Cordelia asked with a worried look on her face as she knelt down to help Molly up but kept her gaze locked pointedly on Angel.

"Of course, don't mind the torrent of blood rushing out of my leg…I'll be fine," Molly replied with a very sarcastic snicker and smirk on her face before she blanched and tried not to look at her left hip and all of the blood.

"Oh good because…oh no," Cordelia started to mumble back appreciatively in reply before she glanced down at Molly's injured hip and her eyes grew wide and a look of shock came upon her face.

"I'm okay really…it's totally natural for me to lose this much blood and still…," Molly began to joke back with a smarmy smirk on her face before she couldn't keep the act up any longer and her shoulders drooped a bit.

"We should get you out of here…Angel, this girl…," Cordelia stammered out quickly with a panicked edge to her voice before she realized that she didn't know Molly's name and was about to ask when Kelly interrupted her.

"Angel…Molly's hurt," Kelly exclaimed loudly, after having found her breath, as she peered up and over the edge of one of the burnt out overturned tables, while Fred did her best not to cough up a lung.

"I can't do anything about it now…get her out of here…Lorne," Angel replied in between his well placed blows on the ubervamp as he tried to cause as much damage to it as he could without taking any himself. The odds however soon turned against him and by the time that Fred and Kelly had scrambled over to where Cordelia and Lorne were trying to drag Molly out of the room Angel wasn't faring so well.

"On it Angelcakes, you don't have to tell this little demon twice," Lorne chirped in with an all to pleased at getting the hell out of the cafeteria smile on his face as he helped Cordelia pulled a weakening Molly away from the battle.

"Can it Lorne and help me pull, Angel can't hold them off forever," Cordelia snapped with an angry and worried for Angel expression on her face as she lightly elbowed the empath demon in the shoulder.

"Hurry…," Fred added with an impatient look on her face as she took one of Molly's legs while Kelly took the other and together the four of them scurried out of the room carrying the injured Molly, mere moments before Angel was knocked to the floor and instantly beset upon by the assembled mass of ubervamps.

Driving like a maniac Spike tore across town towards the hospital, with Buffy in the front seat beside him and the others furiously scrambling to seatbelt themselves in seated in the back. Throughout the ride Xander had tried many times to apologize to Buffy but each and every time that thought that he had built up enough courage it'd desert him as he remembered the small bit of bad news that he and the others were carrying with them. Throughout the entire time spent locked up by the Initiative and then confronted with Spike and Buffy neither Xander nor any of the others had been able to say anything about Rhona's death. Buffy could tell that something was off with her former friend but had erroneously guessed that the difference in his actions was due to his voting her out of her house and out of being the leader. Spike on the other hand could smell the scent of her death all over Xander and Anya, but he let it slide as truth be told he had never really liked Rhona to begin with and the demon in him had instantly rejoiced at the news of the death of the potential slayer.

"Would you please slow down, I'd like to actually make it to the fight," Sam shouted over both the engine and Spike's cackles of glee before he spun the rear end of the hummer sharply around a corner and firmly pressed the accelerator all of the way down to the floor. Buffy had to use all of her slayer strength to keep from getting thrown out of the large vehicle while Spike bounced merrily around in his seat, his unused seatbelt flapping around beside him.

"What…I can't hear you, you're going to have to speak up," Spike exclaimed with an almost demented look of glee on his face as he only briefly glanced up at the rearview mirror.

"Slow down….you're going to kill us," Anya shrieked in a panic before she was flung hard into Xander by Spike going madly around another corner.

"Do you even know where you're going," Xander added with an impatient and scared expression on his face as he valiantly tried to keep a hold of the door on his side while not getting crushed by Anya, Kennedy, and Sam as the three women were thrown against him repeatedly by Spike's driving.

"Of course I do whelp…I'd know where I was going even if I was wearing a blindfold…speaking of which," Spike chirped back merrily in answer with a broad smile on his face before Buffy loudly cleared her throat.

"Don't even think about it Spike, we're probably already to late, the last thing we need is for you to get us all killed on the way," Buffy interjected with a very serious and nervous look on her face as she kept her grip locked onto the passenger side door.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence pet, really…," Spike stated plainly, trying to sound chipper but Buffy easily saw through his sarcasm and for a moment wished that she hadn't said anything.

"Who let him drive anyway," Kennedy asked with a terrified and angry scowl on her face before Spike spun the hummer around once more and slammed on the brakes, a triumphant smile on his face.

"We're here aren't we…now we just need to…," Spike began to announce with a happy smile on his face before he was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering.

"What was…," Sam began to ask with a surprised and somewhat confused look on her face before she was also interrupted, but not by the sound of glass shattering. Everyone in the hummer was nearly scared silly as a body fell onto the hood with a sickening crunch.

"Hi Buffy…," A very bloodied Angel stated with an incoherent grin on his face, scythe in hand, before his head flopped back down onto the hood.

"Angel," Buffy shouted in both surprise and anger as she frantically began to unbuckle her seatbelt before Spike laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. Before she could order him to let her go he pointed towards an onrushing horde of ubervamps.

END OF CHAPTER 25


	26. The Plan Begins

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 26-THE PLAN BEGINS…**

Seven long years of training and turmoil took over in a heartbeat as Buffy tumbled out of the hummer and snatched the scythe out of Angel's hand in one fluid motion. Her next move brought her into direct contact with the ubervamps. The first monstrosity fell without ever seeing the strike that killed it. Spike flung himself out through the open passenger side window and threw himself into the fight, doing his very best to guard Buffy's back. At first Sam made a feeble attempt to keep Spike and Buffy back at the hummer, but her words had yet to even leave her lips before Spike had smashed his fist into the closest ubervamp. Kennedy had managed to find a fire axe and, after giving Anya a deathly angry glare, exploded out of the hummer and raced into the fray, momentarily forgetting her broken nose. Xander slowly got out of the hummer and stood with one hand on the door and the other hanging limply at his side, trying to make up his mind as to what to do. Anya made up his mind for him as she squirted out of the hummer and sprinted up towards the vehicles front, intent on checking on Angel.

"Anya wait," Xander exclaimed with a shocked and worried tone to his voice as she passed him by before he rushed to her side, just as Angel painfully lifted his head and winced.

"Xander…Anya…what are you," Angel gasped out through a deep pain in his chest before he managed to push himself back up to a seated position.

"Thought we'd take in a show…what does it look like we're doing," Anya replied with an innocent smile at first before she furrowed her brows into a furious pout and smacked Angel on the arm.

"Ow…," Angel mumbled with a sad puppy dog look on his face before he unceremoniously slid off of the hood of the hummer and straightened himself out, complete with a painful hitch halfway up.

"Are you sure that you should just," Xander asked with a nervous frown on his face as he laid a hand on Angel's shoulder, and almost instantly snatched it away at the glare that Angel leveled in his direction.

"Don't you two have any friends that you should be stabbing in the back right about now," Angel angrily spat back at the two before he turned himself towards the fight and limped forward, intent on venting some if not all of his anger without snapping Xander's neck.

Faith and Oz scrambled forward as fast as they could, carrying a still unconscious Wesley between them while Connor kept the ubervamps off of their backs. Neither truly knew where they were headed but in their current predicament their destination was the least of their worries. Being Angel's son Connor was beyond human in means of strength, speed, and agility, but even he could not hold off the sea of death smashing upon him forever. Luckily for them they happened to almost run headlong into a heavily armed security detail of Wolfram and Hart sentries. Unlike normal guards sentries were not human, and never had been. Sentries resembled a cross between a Fyarl demon and part spirit, horrible beings that more closely resembled the ringwraith's from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy than anything else. Angel had initially sent them to patrol the darkest corners of Sunnydale, immediately killing anything that was hapless or unfortunate enough to cross their path.

"What the hell…," Faith exclaimed with a start after she very nearly ran headlong into one of the sentries, with it barely showing any outward notice of her presence.

"Get out of our…," Connor began to growl with a furious and rushed scowl on his face before Wesley surprised them all.

"No…s, stay away Connor…they're sentries," Wesley choked out before he was overtaken by a fit of coughing.

"What…," Faith spat out nervously, worried more about Wesley's health than the danger that she was in even though she wasn't fully aware of it.

"Sentries…immortal beings summoned by black magic, very powerful…," Wesley continued through chapped lips before he collected enough strength to grab onto the railing and pull himself to the wall.

"Once again with the magic, when will you people ever learn, using magic always ends in disaster," Connor grumbled with a very angry sneer on his face as he stepped away from Faith and Wesley and started to walk towards the hallway in which the ubervamps were soon going to be exiting.

"Magic is like money Connor, it is only evil when those that possess it misuse it," Wesley countered with such a determination in his eyes and voice that Faith couldn't help but smile with pride.

"What do you…how can you defend magic…," Connor shot back with a menacing glare on his face as he half turned back to concentrate his glare at Wesley.

"Because it's gotten us this far," Faith shouted quickly, before she fully knew what was happening, while Wesley looped an arm around her shoulders.

"Enough…fighting amongst ourselves won't solve anything, Wesley…are those sentries going to attack us or just…," Oz interjected with a shout as he jumped in between Faith and Connor, just as the growls of the ubervamps became able to be clearly heard rushing towards them.

"No…they won't attack us, but only because of my status with Wolfram and Hart," Wesley replied before taking a very deep breath and trying his best to stay conscious as Faith cast him a worried look, disguised as a sarcastic scowl.

"Hell of a health plan," Faith joked with her usual sarcastic tone of voice as she tried her best to look like she was angry at Wesley while keeping a wary eye on the sentries as they silently floated past her towards Connor and the hallway.

"Health, dental, accidental dismemberment and decapitation, can't get that kind of protection anywhere else," Wesley added with a cheesy smirk on his face before he couldn't help it any longer and leaned in and placed a hurried kiss on Faith's lips, one that she quickly and eagerly returned.

"We're in mortal danger and you two…," Oz started to say with an unhappy frown on his face before Faith silenced him with an angry glare and a low growl, all without fully prying her lips from Wesley's.

"Remembering what we're fighting for, now get out of the sentries way before they determine you to be a threat," Wesley added with an impatient and somewhat tired look on his face before Faith helped him over to a seat on a nearby chair.

"You heard what he said…now get over here," Faith interjected with a sarcastic scowl on her face as she stared angrily at Connor for a moment before he reluctantly stepped aside and let the sentries pass.

"Whoa…what are those things," A new voice asked with a fair amount of fear and surprise in her voice before Faith had to bite her bottom lip to keep from instantly springing into action and attacking the speaker.

"They're sentries, not human…not even close, they're harmless to us as long as the don't think we're a threat," Oz leapt in with a serious and nervous tone to his voice as he walked over and stood beside Willow, who was still pushing a nervous Dawn around in her wheelchair.

"So uh…let's not make them think that we're a threat…okay," Willow stuttered out with a very nervous smile on her face as she looked around at everyone in the small space before the sentries tore through the doorway and burst out into the hallway, meeting the onrushing horde of ubervampires head on.

"We should get going, even though I am fully confident in the ability of the sentries to stem the tide of those things this is only the beginning, and there's still to much that I do not understand about all of this," Wesley said with a nervous and a bit scared look on his face as he was able to get back up to his feet under his own strength, even though Faith stayed at his side, ready to jump in at the first hint of trouble.

"But where are we supposed to go, I should find my father, he'll want my help," Connor interjected with a very serious expression on his face before he started to hurry off, only to be stopped by Oz, who hurried to keep in front of him.

"Any idea where we're going," Kelli asked with a very worried and almost frantic look on her face as she helped the others to set Molly down softly.

"Sure…I know exactly where I'm going," Cordelia answered with a positive smile on her face that hid the fear beneath it well.

"Listen cupcake, I know that I may be a bit out of practice shall we say reading you…even I'm not that dumb," Lorne countered with a less than impressed frown on his face as he stood up and crossed his arms.

"Cordy…," Fred begged with a nervous look on her face and twitch of her hands as she stepped away from Molly and Kelli.

"What…come on people, I know where I'm going, trust me," Cordelia added with an innocent smile on her face, a smile that Fred and Lorne bought for about two seconds before both furrowed their brows and cast a light glare towards her.

"Somehow…I think not…," Molly sputtered out with a pained look on her face before she wiped the back of her hand across her brow to mop up some of the sweat that was beginning to sting her eyes.

"Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery, who the hell are you two anyway," Cordelia groaned with an annoyed frown on her face as she spun on her heel and glared down at Molly and Kelli.

"Well uh…," Kelli stammered out slowly under Cordelia's intensifying glare before Fred jumped in front of them and put her hands up defensively.

"Whoa Cordy…take it easy, they're not the enemy," Fred began with a nervous look on her face as she shook a bit out of fear.

"Yeah honey cakes…they two lovely young ladies hoping not to die tonight are potential slayers, like Buffy and Faith were before the slayer before them took the big dirt nap," Lorne added with a sincere and honest look on his face as he walked over and gently laid a hand on Cordelia's arm, hoping that she would take it in stride and settle down.

"Potential what…wanna run that by me again," Cordelia asked with a slightly confused look on her face as she took a step back and turned to Fred.

"They're potential slayers, okay look at it this way, you know the part about in every generation one is chosen to fight the forces of darkness and all and become the slayer right…okay good, well all over the world there's like hundreds of young girls that could become the slayer when the current one dies, they're all ready to become the slayer whether they like it or not, and so if something were to happen to Faith and she were to die then it's entirely possibly that Kelli or Molly here will become the next slayer," Fred answered after taking a deep breath and in between waiting for Cordelia to slowly nod her head in understanding.

"So then, shouldn't she be healing quickly or something," Cordelia asked, still a bit confused as to the whole process after finding out about the potentials.

"Unfortunately no…I'm just a potential, only the slayer has the handy dandy suped up healing factor…and all of the strength…and reflexes…," Molly replied sadly with a deep pout on her face as she let her shoulders droop even a bit more.

"So basically, until Faith dies…we potentials are just as normal as you and Ms. Burkle here," Kelli added with an impatient and worried expression on her face as she helped Molly to hold a bandage over the wound on her hip.

"Well no…I wouldn't say that…exactly, being a potential you two have slightly enhanced senses…," Fred began with an embarrassed smile on her face and shrug of her shoulders before she began to fidget with her hands.

"Hooray for us…," Kelli grumbled with a very sarcastic flip of her head and smile on her face before she gave Cordelia an icy stare and went back to helping Molly to try and stop the bleeding.

"Uh, I hate to be a burden here but…are you all just gonna let me sit here and bleed to death or am I gonna get this little nick patched up," Molly interrupted with an uncomfortable and slightly weak glare in her eyes as she first looked to Fred and then finally to Cordelia.

"Fine, we'll go…but you'd better not bleed on me," Cordelia answered with an unhappy scowl on her face as she threw up her hands in defeat and shook her head before she helped Fred and Lorne fashion a good enough bandage over Molly's wound.

To be completely and totally truthful Spike was in his element, or so he had boasted ad nauseam. Landing punch after punch Spike pressed onward, keeping Buffy in the immediate vicinity while dishing out as much damage as he could without a weapon. Using the scythe Buffy had been equal to a force of nature against the ubervampires, dusting one almost literally right after another. Angel fought hard as well but due to his injuries he soon began to falter, but only barely. Xander and Anya had initially, after snapping themselves back into reality from Angel's condemnation, tried to get into the fight but a very stern Sam had ordered them both to take Kennedy and get inside the hospital. Xander had started to argue but a quick and sudden elbow to the ribs by Anya and Xander had grabbed one of Kennedy's arms and the two together dragged the young potential out of the fight and into the hospital through a door that was almost off of its hinges.

"Care to explain something to me Peaches…why is it that I always have to keep saving your sorry ass…," Spike exclaimed with a very zealous smile on his face after he leapt onto the back of one of the ubervampires and did his best to snap its neck.

"Shut up Spike," Angel growled back with a very unhappy sneer on his face before he caught the left hook of a bloody ubervamp with the side of his face.

"Why do you two…always have…to fight, in the middle of an apocalypse…you'd think that you two could get along for…," Buffy interjected with an angry scowl on her face as she dove towards the ground, tuck and rolled underneath an attack, and then sprang back up to her feet, lopping off the head of three ubervampires in the process.

"Not my fault…," Angel mumbled out under his breath, making it sound like an accusation towards Spike, before he took another upper hook to the chin.

"Because otherwise we'd get along…and no one in their right mind wants that," Spike added with an excited smile on his face before he lunged in between two clawed hands and tackled Buffy to the ground mere seconds before Buffy would have been left a foot shorter.

"Don't you ever stop running your mouth," Sam shouted with an angry expression on her face as she poured most of her first clip into two ubervampires that finally noticed her standing beside the hummer and thought her an easy mark. She had barely proven them wrong before a quick acting ubervamp slashed its claws across Sam's stomach, leaving five nearly foot long gouges from one him to the other, barely avoiding her bellybutton. Sam's scream of pain instantly broke the odd sense of confidence that Angel, Spike and Buffy had going.

"Oh no…Sam," Buffy nearly screamed with a very shocked and frantic look of desperation on her face before she dusted another ubervampire and would have continued fighting on had she not noticed several harbingers rushing to bolster the Firsts numbers in the battle.

"Buffy what…bloody hell," Spike said with at first surprised and subtly startled look on his face as he spun around just in time to see Buffy disappear behind a wall of harbingers.

"Who invited them," Angel growled with an angry frown on his face as he leapt up off of the ground, used the wall as a springboard and tackled a pair of ubervampires to the ground.

"Two guesses…and they're both the First…," Spike joked with a smug grin on his face before he threw himself at the first harbinger to cross his path.

"This is…not good," Sam sputtered out awkwardly before tears stung her eyes and she coughed up a little bit of blood as she scooted back away from the fray.

"Sam…hold on," Buffy shouted above the din as she hacked and slashed at anything that moved with the scythe, at times barely missing lopping off one of Angel arms and one of Spike's legs before she cleared the fighting.

Deep beneath the ground it began to awaken, over seventy feet long and thirsty with revenge on the slayer. The denizens had woven spell after spell over it, in an attempt to make sure that when its time to shine came it would not disappoint them. The behemoth had breathed the air above ground once before, but had met a disasterous fate at the hands of the slayer. But this time would be different; this time the behemoth would have alongside its new master, one who had promised it the slayer on a spit in exchange for its aid. But there were not only thoughts of one slayer on the behemoths mind. Instead its thoughts were clouded by a second slayer, one that it had grown protective of in its human form. With its masters plan well into motion the behemoth opened its massive mouth and slithered towards the hellmouth, ready for its second chance. Leading it out of the hellmouth and back into the world above would be the privilege and responsibility of the first vampire lord to fall at the petite slayer's hand.

"This is getting us nowhere," Faith stated with a frustrated and unhappy scowl on her face as she turned on one security camera after another within the hospital, allowing Wesley to sit down beside her and stare at the dozens of small screens in the security room.

"It's called a tactical advantage Faith," Wesley replied with a small yawn before he leaned back in his chair and gingerly rubbed his tired eyes, as Faith moved to be at his side while she crossed her arms.

"Where's Buffy," Dawn interrupted with a worried look on her face as she pushed herself up out of the wheelchair, against Willow's wishes, and staggered her way over to the screens, leaning heavily on the back of Wesley's chair.

"I'm not sure yet Dawn…Faith only just turned the cameras on…wait a minute…," Wesley began to answer with an uncomfortable look on his face before he noticed some movement on one of the screens out of the corner of his eye.

"Who…or what the hell is that," Faith asked with a confused and alarmed expression on her face as she uncrossed her arms and leaned forward a bit onto the counter, laying her left hand over Wesley's right.

"You got me…," Oz chimed in with a confused look on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and turned to Willow, who looked whiter than a ghost as her eyes were as wide as silver dollars.

"Willow…," Dawn asked softly as she turned back to look at Willow just as Connor stepped forward and squinted at the screen.

"It can't be…we killed him…," Willow stuttered out with a look of total shock and terror on her face before she half collapsed down into Dawn's vacant wheelchair, dropping her head into her hands and softly moaning to herself.

"Who…we killed who…," Faith asked impatiently with a nervous feeling growing in the pit of her stomach as Wesley lifted the palm and fingers of his right hand up just enough so that Faith could hook her fingers in between his and give his hand an unsure squeeze.

"It's Adam…," Willow finally stated after a few quiet tense moments, and from the look of sheer panic on her face none were quick to ask for any more information.

END OF CHAPTER 26


	27. Hell On Earth

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 27-HELL ON EARTH**

"Where is agent Finn, where is my wife," Riley demanded angrily as he stormed back and forth inside of the small cell that Robin and Andrew were still being held in, glaring at both as if they had made her disappear themselves.

"I don't know…," Andrew quickly replied with a timid and scared look on his face as he hunched down onto the cot and tried his best to appear as small as possible.

"Look, neither one of us have ever met your wife, let alone done anything with her, and if she's as good of an agent as you're claiming then I don't see how either one of us could have done anything to her, even if we wanted to," Robin added with a nervous but calm expression on his face as he stood up and ignored the angry glares from the two armed guards stationed in the cells doorway.

"A plausible story…except that the two of you have been seen in the company of one Willow Rosenberg, a young woman who is a very powerful witch and a close friend of a certain petite blonde slayer, with a pension for falling in love with the worst possible…," Riley began again, this time letting the scorn that he felt for those that he was describing show through as plain as day.

"Buffy…," Robin interrupted as he finished Riley's train of thought, his countenance growing ever darker by the moment.

"Yes Buffy…the slayer that used to be locked in a room with ass…Spike, until several minutes ago when they somehow escaped, along with some of Buffy's old friends…," Riley stated with a cold and stern frown on his face as he clasped his hands together behind his back and proceeded to continue pacing.

"Not anymore…they're not her best friends anymore, not after they voted her out as leader…they kicked her out of her own house," Andrew jumped in with a very sad and regretful look on his face as he reached up and wiped away an imaginary tear, an attempt to further express his feelings on the subject.

"And that's when she hooked up with that…monster…," Robin declared, his voice full of anger at the vampire that killed his mother.

"But then Angel and his friends came and…," Andrew started to chime in before a beautiful young blonde woman came crashing through the wall, acting as if the wall was in her way.

"Who the hell are you," Robin asked with a startled look on his face as he quickly backed away from the young woman, who was busy taking the time to shake the dust out of her hair.

"My name is the great and wonderful Glory, but if you're going to worship me then you should learn to address me as Glorificus," Glory replied with a carefree smile on her face, acting as if the heavily armed Initiative guards weren't even there, before she looked up and smiled. It was the last sight that either of the two guards would ever see as she rushed forward, ducked underneath the barrels of their guns and drove her fists through their chests, killing them both instantly.

"Just hold on Sam…," Buffy pleaded with a scared look on her face as she did her best to carry the injured Sam through the hallways of the hospital and away from the combined army of the harbingers and the ubervampires. Spike and Angel had worked together to clear a path for Buffy from the parked hummer to the nearest unlocked door of the hospital. Angel had initially tried to take point, but given the series of battles that he had already been through he was not able to hold the line for long. Spike took over the lead with a small smirk on his face. He held the line well for a few minutes before he to was forced to fall back and assume a much more defensive fight than he wanted. Finally Angel and Spike had been forced to admit defeat and make a nearly suicidal charge towards the hospital door that Buffy had taken Sam through.

"That was close," Spike joked with a serious scowl on his face as he slammed the door shut behind him, allowing Angel to momentarily slump up against the nearest wall and rest a bit.

"To close, that door won't hold them for long," Angel shot back with at first a half smile on his face before his countenance became much darker and his tone serious.

"It'll last long enough for us to not be here when they bust through it," Spike countered before he coughed on all of the dust that they had kicked up, even though in truth it was more out of a long since dead reflex than any actual need.

"Only if our luck changes, where's Buffy," Angel asked with an impatient and hurried look on his face as he pushed off of the wall and helped Spike to hurriedly block the door.

"Here…Sam's not doing so good," Buffy called out, partially with a sense of relief that both Spike and Angel had managed to make it inside, before she materialized out of the darkness, scythe still firmly in hand and smelling very strongly of Sam's blood.

"We need to get her out of here," Angel answered quickly with a grim expression on his face as he dashed past Buffy and began to check the knob of every door, searching for the one that Xander and the others had used.

"You think of that all by yourself Peaches," Spike cracked with an impish smile on his face as he took a step back away from the outer door and turned to see the effects of his words.

"Shut up Spike," Buffy groaned with an annoyed scowl on her face before she turned around and headed back into the darkness, leaving Spike to groan in dismay and shake his head.

"Alright Willow, let's go through this one more time, who is this Adam," Wesley asked patiently as he paused a couple of times to collect his breath and strength.

"What Wes over here means Will is…other than looking like the love child of a toaster and the village idiot…who is this guy," Faith added with a sly grin on her face as he pulled her hand back away from Wesley and hopped up onto the counter, making sure to lean forward just enough for Wesley to get a good view out of the corner of his eyes.

"Bad news, major bad news…Buffy couldn't do anything against him, no matter what she tried," Willow replied with a skittish and scared look on her face as she began to shake ever so slightly. Oz silently stepped up beside Willow and nervously put an arm around her.

"Okay…so he's tough," Connor interjected with a serious yet not overly concerned frown on his face as he began to pace back and forth in the far corner of the room, his weapon never leaving his side.

"Tough…that's like the understatement of the millennia…, it took everyone combined to bring Adam down the last time, I can still remember when Buffy came home after that, she wasn't the same for weeks, she slept so much afterwards that for a time I started calling her sleeping beauty," Dawn stated with a very nervous expression on her face as she slowly made her way over to where Faith and Wesley were sitting, using the counter to hold herself still.

"Sorry to be the fly in the ointment here folks but…so far I'm not getting the heebie jeebies about that big mutha on the…," Faith began to joke with a dry smile on her face, as she looked around the room, before she was interrupted.

"Television screen…," Adam stated with an emotionless smile on his face as he stormed through the doorway, inevitably making a new one, before everyone in the room froze, as Faith's dry smile died on her lips.

"Mr. Giles…shouldn't they have been back by now…it's almost morning," Vi asked with a very nervous look on her face as she shuffled her way up towards Giles, who sat at the kitchen table with numerous notebooks scattered all over its surface.

"I'm sure that everyone is perfectly alright Vi, if they weren't we would have heard something," Giles replied with a reassuring smile on his face even though in his heart he was beginning to get worried and over the last two hours he had been writing out in length all of the possibilities that had filtered into his head about what could have happened.

"But what if something happened to them and…they couldn't get to a phone, they've been gone to long," Vi continued with a very concerned look on her face as it seemed that she was about to tear up at any moment.

"It's been over twenty four hours Mr. Giles…something's gone wrong," Amy, a redheaded potential who had been almost constantly teased about her likeness to Willow, added with an unhappy expression on her face as she pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, staring bleary eyed at the arcane symbols on the pages of the large yellow notepads that Giles had been scribbling on.

"Vi…Amy, these things take time, Willow and the others probably stopped somewhere to rest and lost track of the time," Giles replied with a slightly uneasy look on his face as he took his glasses off and began to clean them.

"Is that what you know is going on…or are you just hoping that is what's keeping them," Alyssa, an older than she looked potential from Miami, asked impatiently as she walked into the kitchen, hiking up her jeans and pulling down hem of her shirt at the raised eyebrow that she received from Giles after setting foot into the room.

"J Lo's right," Amy joked with an impish grin on her face as she once again made a joke at Alyssa's expense, before the slightly older potential slapped her hard on the back of the head.

"Hey…just because I developed faster than you two shrinking violets don't…," Alyssa began in earnest with a very confrontational look on her face before Giles slammed the notebook that he had begun to continue to write in down on the table, garnering everyone's immediate and undivided attention.

"Sorry…," Vi and Amy mumbled together with scared looks on their faces before Vi stepped back into the shadows, receiving a sarcastic glare from Alyssa.

"You're forgiven, but the two of you must try and calm down a little, we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions about why Willow and the others haven't checked in yet, despite our personal fears," Giles added with a kind and sincere, yet very tired, look on his face as he slowly began to collect his things from the table.

"But once it's light out shouldn't we go and look for them, you said that those ubervampires can't go out during the day or they'll get fried, and I doubt that those harbingers have gotten any sun in…," Alyssa began to say with a slowly brightening smile on her face as she walked across the kitchen, heading for the island with the assortment of weapons on it.

"I don't think that would be wise Alyssa, even though the streets would be empty of the First's denizens I believe they are still far to dangerous for you or any of the other potentials," Giles interjected with a serious look on his face as he stood up from the table and turned around to face Alyssa.

"But," Alyssa started to argue with a persistent pout on her face as she crossed her arms and cocked her hips to one side.

"This is not open for discussion, our next course of action will be discussed and then decided up only after Willow and the others get back here safely," Giles stated sharply, as he cut Alyssa off in mid statement, before he walked out of the kitchen.

"You two know what I think…," Alyssa began to say with an unhappy scowl on her face as she slithered her jeans back down to their original position on her hips and arched her back forward to get the hem of her shirt back to its usual spot, well above her pierced navel.

"No…but I'm guessing that you'll tell us anyway," Vi mumbled with an annoyed and sarcastic frown on her face before she sighed deeply and slumped down into a seat next to a bored look Amy.

"I think that he's just scared…scared that he's been outthought by a bunch of teenaged girls," Alyssa continued, undaunted, with a rather pleased smile on her face before she walked the last few remaining steps to the island, picked up a two sided battle axe and triumphantly stepped out of the kitchen and onto the streets.

"Come on Wesley," Faith shouted over the din as the two scrambled, to the best of their abilities, over a sea of overturned tables and other rubble towards a door with a dark exit sign above it.

"I'm trying Faith, but it's hard getting a decent handhold with only one good arm," Wesley shot back with a slightly angry scowl on his face as he struggled to maintain his grip on the edge of one of the overturned tables.

"And who's fault is that," Faith exclaimed with her usual sarcasm dripping voice, but when Wesley shot her a dirty look he could see the beginnings of a smirk curling up the edges of her lips and the playful look in her eyes.

"Are you going to sit there all day and play let's make fun of the injured Englishman or are you actually going to help me," Wesley exclaimed with a somewhat angry frown on his face as he carefully stepped over a shattered skylight and cast a quick look back over his shoulder to check that Adam wasn't following them. After Adam had come crashing into the room everyone had split up and run for their lives, with Faith and Wesley being first out of the room and Connor and Oz being the last, mostly because of the formers want to try to fight Adam.

"Not sure yet, though right now just sitting here on my ass part is looking like a really good idea," Faith snickered back with a sly grin on her face before she rolled her eyes and grabbed Wesley's arm and pulled hard. His feet had barely touched the unbroken ground when Adam rounded the corner, looking pleased to have found them, like he had found a long lost buried treasure.

"Oh shit…," Faith exclaimed with a shocked look on her face as Adam looked over at them and then proceeded to take his first step forward into the sea of overturned tables and other debris.

"Shit, hmm…I am not familiar with that word, explain…," Adam asked with a slightly confused look on his face as he stopped momentarily to ponder the word.

"Okay…I'll explain…," Faith started to say, with a daring smile starting to spread itself across her face a little to easily, before Wesley threw his good arm around her waist and tried his best to pull her away.

"No Faith, he's to strong, don't let him bait you into a fight," Wesley sputtered out with a tired and weary expression on his face, as his left eye screamed for him to wipe the drops of sweat out of it.

"Lemme go Wes, this guy needs…," Faith grumbled with an angry frown on her face as she struggled against Wesley's grip.

"Is something that you don't have…Faith," Wesley continued to plead with a very concerned expression on his face before Faith unintentionally elbowed him directly in his injured shoulder and then in a moment of fitful anger she grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him up into the air off of her and over the counter at the nurses station. Instantly Faith's entire body went numb, she had acted in an instant, momentarily shutting down the feeling and thinking sections of her brain and operating solely on the instinctive part. Her heart very nearly seized up in her chest as the realization of her actions fully struck her.

"W…," Faith began to stutter out with a, for possibly the first time in her life, completely terrified look on her face before she felt a presence nearby and turned around. She turned just in time to catch sight of Adam as he reared back and backhanded her across the body, sending her up into the air in an almost carbon copy of Wesley's flight before she slammed headfirst into the counter at the nurse's station and then into the corner of a row of metal filing cabinets. She finally came to a rest in a heap beside Wesley on the floor.

"Pity…I expected better…," Adam stated in a carefree tone of voice before he turned away and stalked off down the hallway, leaving a bleeding and severely injured couple lying on the floor in an ever increasing dark pool of their own blood.

"We have to go back and look for them Willow," Dawn pleaded with a scared look on her face as Willow huffed and puffed and pushed Dawn in her wheelchair around a corner and into an examination room as a heavily armed Wolfram and Hart patrol rushed past.

"We can't Dawn, not with Adam running around loose somewhere," Willow protested with an equally scared look on her face as she began to close all of the room's curtains.

"You know Willow, if Adam's as strong as you've said then I highly doubt that closing the curtains is going to keep him out," Dawn stated with a slightly sarcastic frown on her face as she used a couple of stationary beds to pull herself further into the room and away from the door.

"I know but…Xander," Willow started to try to stutter out some plausible reply before Xander and Anya, carrying a cursing Kennedy between them, burst into the room through the doors on the other side of the room.

"Willow…Dawn," Xander gasped out with a relieved and surprised look on his face before Kennedy and Willow locked gazes and he let Kennedy go.

"Oh man…what happened," Dawn asked with a nervous look on her face as she took a deep breath while Kennedy and Willow rushed into a tight hug in the center of the room.

"Don't ask…," Xander replied with a tired look on his face as he leaned over and put his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath.

"We found Buffy and Spike," Anya exclaimed with an excited and happy smile on her face, looking as if she would burst if she did not convey that little tidbit of information.

"Really…where are they," Dawn shouted with an ecstatic smile on her face as she pushed herself up in her chair and had she been able to stand up and walk around fully she undoubtedly would have been bouncing up and down.

"They stayed to fight those vampires with the funny name," Anya offered with a happy smile on her face before she cocked her head to one side and stared oddly at Willow and Dawn.

"Wait…where's everyone else, where's Robin…and Andrew," Willow asked with a suddenly very worried look on her face as she clasped hands with Kennedy and gently touched the side of her lovers nose.

"The Initiative got us…we needed Sam Finn's help to escape, but…," Xander began to answer with an unhappy frown on his face before he found that he could not say the rest and looked away.

"She's gawn…Rhona's dead," Kennedy stuttered out softly with a very guilty look on her face before she pulled away from Willow and hopped up onto one of the beds.

"Wha…no," Dawn squeaked with a very shocked and terrified look in her eyes as she slumped back in her chair and did her best to hold the tears back.

"That's…terrible, but we can't think about it right now…we have bigger problems," Willow slowly and patiently with a very serious look on her face as she intentionally avoided the gazes of everyone in the room save Dawn.

"We do…sorry Will but I'm not following you, what could possibly be bigger than Rhona dying or…," Xander began with a look of surprised disbelief on his face as he wasn't quite sure as to how Willow could appear so unaffected by the potentials death.

"Adam, Adam is bigger, he's back…I don't know how but he is, we barely got away, Dawn and I are hiding in here, Faith and Wesley are somewhere up above us, and Connor and Oz…," Willow replied with a look on her face that seemed to give way to the expectation that Xander would be angry with her as Willow cringed a bit and backed away from Xander and Anya.

"Damn…we need to," Xander started to say with a flabbergasted look on his face before the entire hospital shook, knocking them all off of their feet.

The hellmouth opened and the behemoth wasted little time as it slithered towards the portal, being led in earnest by the one that had thirsted for the slayers blood the longest. The vampire had unceasingly hurled curse after curse at the petite blonde slayer every day since the behemoth had found itself on other side of the hellmouth. The behemoth cared little what happened to the first slayer; as long as it was present to bear witness to her demise it would be happy. But the second slayer would be dealt with separately, and by the behemoth itself only. The behemoths companion had wanted to drain the second slayer as well but the behemoth would not allow it, wanting to crush her bones in its jaws rather than to see her drained. Neither worried much about either slayer as they squeezed through the portal and found themselves back in the real world.

"It begins," The Master stated with a very proud sneer on his face before he watched as the behemoth took off, crashing through walls of stone as if they were paper mache, heading straight for the hospital and its prey.

END OF CHAPTER 27


	28. Panic Sets In

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli, Alyssa, and Amy.**

**CHAPTER 28-PANIC SETS IN**

"Bloody hell," Spike growled with a surprised look on his face as the hospital around them finally stopped shaking and he turned to check on Buffy.

"What the hell was that," Buffy asked with an impatient scowl on her face as she slowly and cautiously pulled the towel off of Sam's wounds so that she could get a better view of them.

"They look deep," Spike said without the smallest hint of mockery in his voice as almost instinctively Buffy leaned back up against him and sighed deeply, letting her shoulders slump a bit.

"You two can play Florence Nightingale later, we need to find out what the hell that explosion was and find the others, I think that the First is making its big move and we have to counter it…somehow," Angel said with a hurried and impatient expression on his face as he stormed back to where Spike and Buffy had set a now heavily sweating Sam down on an old pile of blankets on the floor.

"Angel…if we don't get her help immediately, or at least stop the bleeding she won't make it much longer," Buffy shot back with an icy glare aimed straight at Angel before Spike gently laid a hand on her shoulder and cautiously interrupted.

"Pet…I think what Peaches is trying to say is that if we stay here Mrs. Captain Cardboard will definitely die, but if we leave and find his Wolfram and Hart underlings than at least she stands a chance in hell of making it, with the added bonus of…," Spike interjected with a cautious but yet serious tone to his voice as Buffy let her head drop forward a bit before she stepped in.

"Okay fine…but one of you is going to have to carry her, and keep your bloodlust under control long enough for…," Buffy relented with a stressed out look on her face as she stood up and glared ahead at Angel.

"Deal…now let's move," Angel promptly announced with a hurried look on his face before he stepped forward and picked Sam up.

Oz had initially intended to try to follow Willow and Dawn's escape after Adam's sudden appearance. Connor's impromptu drive to take Adam on by himself however had thwarted those plans from the get go. Instead Oz had taken an action that he would later be unable to give an explanation for. Using every excuse in the book Oz had gotten Connor back down to the hospital's parking garage. When Oz had tried to find an unlocked car Connor had found himself unable to stay quiet any longer.

"What are you doing," Connor asked with a slightly confused look on his face as he stopped following Oz and leaned back up against a nearby car.

"Trying to find a car that's unlocked," Oz replied as he checked a couple more cars, all the while never once looking at Connor.

"Why…Adam is loose in the hospital and we're…," Connor began to ask with an angry and impatient scowl on his face as he pushed off away from the car and glared over at Oz.

"Looking for a getaway car," Oz replied with a hurried and unhappy frown on his face as he continued to try to open the front driver's side door of every vehicle that he came to.

"You're running away…but," Connor started to say with a very surprised and then furious grimace on his face as he finally moved from his spot and started to follow Oz in earnest.

"I'm not…running away Connor, you heard Willow right, Adam's to powerful for any of us to take on alone, and until we have some more power and a better plan taking him on would be suicide, so I'm going to find a car, pull it up in front of the hospital and then get Willow and Dawn and the others out of here until we can come up with a decent plan of attack," Oz answered with a longwinded speech as he finally found a door that was unlocked and pulled it open quickly before he began to almost frantically search for the keys.

"That's your big plan…I'm going to find my father," Connor announced with a skeptical tone to his voice before he shook his head and started to storm off in the direction of a set of double doors on the other side of the parking garage.

"No…Connor wait…," Oz shouted with a frustrated look on his face before he ran his hands quickly through his hair and then took off after Connor.

"Get out of my way," Cordelia demanded with a very serious and impatient scowl on her face as she balled up her fists and glared at the guard barring her way out of the infirmary.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we're in a code red emergency right now and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to be outside of their approved zones until the all clear is given," An unmovable looking guard stated with a very serious look on his face as he held a hand up in front of Cordelia and refused to budge an inch.

"Not allowed to be…do you know who I am…do you have any freaking idea," Cordelia snapped with a steadily growing scowl of anger on her face as she looked to be about two seconds away from punching the guard when a fully armed Gunn came out of one of the other briefing rooms and stepped forward.

"What seems to be the problem here Greenberg," Gunn asked with his best authoritative voice as he glanced briefly at Cordelia, hoping that she'd take his look to calm down and let him do all of the talking.

"N…no problem sir," Greenberg answered with a very nervous stutter in his voice as he tried to keep from making a bad impression.

"Then may I ask why the lovely Cordelia here is being detained," Gunn wondered with a half smirk on his face as Greenberg opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as Cordelia could have sworn that she heard his heart beating inside of his chest before he finally managed an answer to Gunn's question.

"Because she…came in with an injured girl…she might…," Greenberg started to answer with a very scared look on his face before Fred came around the corner pushing a heavily bandaged Molly in a wheelchair with a nervous looking Kelly at her side and a relieved looking Lorne behind her.

"Cordelia's free to go, Molly here didn't have any diseases or infections, we're all clear…," Fred stated with a very firm and unwavering tone of voice and look on her face as she walked slowly from around behind Molly to stand directly in front of Greenberg.

"Y…yes ma'am," Greenberg stuttered with a worried and scared look on his face before he stepped back and marched quickly down the hallway.

"Ah…finally, thank you Fred," Cordelia said with a huge sigh and frustrated smile on her face as she stepped out of the room and turned to Gunn.

"We don't know where Angel is Cordy, like usual he's gone off on his own, although we do have reason to believe that he has hooked up with Buffy and Spike and several others," Gunn said softly as he guessed what Cordelia was going to ask as he took a step back and looked over at Fred.

"Well then boys and girls, what are we waiting for, call in the army, the navy, the air force, the marines, the…power-puff girls, let's go get Angel before he does something foolish," Lorne exclaimed with an unnatural show of bravado with an energized smile on his face as he clapped his hands together.

"What bug crawled up your but," Kelli asked with a sarcastic grin on her face as she leaned back a bit and tried her best to keep from giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Kelli," Fred exclaimed with a surprised and shocked look on her face as she spun around to glare at the young potential.

"What…it was a good question…just that up until now he's been such a coward and all about everything I just thought that…," Kelli quickly stated in her defense as she looked around the hallway and the stunned looks on everyone else's faces while in her chair Molly suppressed a chuckle of her own.

"Hey, for your information my little chickadee, I am allowed a few sudden spurts of courage every now and then," Lorne shot back with a thinly veiled look of sarcasm on his face as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned down at Kelli.

"So what now, Angel and the others are in trouble and we still don't know anything about that explosion," Molly asked with an impatient look on her face as she looked up first at Fred and then over at Gunn.

"You're right, we don't know what caused that explosion or what it was, however we do know that something freaky is going down at the high school, all of our scouts in that area of town suddenly cut out a few minutes ago, when we checked with our long range cameras it looks like a tornado hit the school, a huge hole is blasted right out of the side, and plenty of those suped up vamps are pouring out of the place faster than we can count them," Gunn answered with a very grim and unhappy look on his face as he took a deep breath in the middle of his explanation.

"Sorry I asked," Molly mumbled softly with a scared look on her face and a chill down her spine and she slumped down a bit in her chair and stared sadly at the floor.

"What was that…," Dawn stammered out after a few silent moments as she pushed herself back up to a seated position on the floor. The force of the explosion had knocked her out of her chair and down to the floor.

"An explosion," Anya answered with a pleased to be helpful smile on her face as she picked herself up off of the floor and started to dust herself off.

"Thanks for that stellar insight An, now I know who to come to with the really hard clues in the Sunday crossword puzzles," Xander joked with a sarcastic smile on his face as he pushed the lightweight mattress of one of the beds off of him and sat up.

"Bite me Harris," Anya shot back with an angry scowl on her face as she stood up and turned away from Xander.

"You okay," Willow asked with a worried look on her face as she and Kennedy untangled themselves from each other. When the explosion had hit the two had flung themselves together and hit the floor, hoping to avoid anything that would be sent flying off of one of the shelves by the force of the explosion.

"Yeah…," Kennedy replied with a shaky smile before she leaned in close and gently placed a kiss on Willow's lips.

"We should get out of here," Xander announced with a very serious look on his face as he went around and checked the exits and the locks on the doors.

"No…we can't, Oz and Connor and Wesley and Faith are still here somewhere, we can't leave without them," Dawn countered with an equally serious look on her face as she struggled to get back up into the wheelchair.

"Oz…Oz is here," Xander asked with a surprised look on his face as he walked back from checking on the doors at the far end of the room.

"Yeah…he and a boy about Dawn's age," Willow added with a nervous look on her face as she helped Kennedy back up to her feet and cocked a worried eyebrow at the bandage on Kennedy's nose.

"Was he cute," Anya asked, appearing as if the amount of mortal danger that they were all in at that moment was completely lost on her.

"Yeah…but that's not important right now, what's important is that we need to find everyone else and regroup at Bu…home base and plan our next move," Willow answered with a lost in thought look on her face as she slowly began to pace back and forth in the middle of the room.

"That's easier said that done Will, with Angel's people and the Initiative both running around out there, not to mention the First and its baddies…," Xander interjected with a serious and concerned look on his face as he crossed his arms and soon began to pace at a perpendicular angle to Willow, with each one only barely missing the other on their route.

Angel had started off carrying the injured Sam through the darkened hallways of the hospital but soon because of his injuries from earlier battles in the night he had been forced to hand her over to Spike. All the while Buffy had taken the lead, expertly wielding the scythe when she needed to as some of the harbingers and ubervampires had managed to find their way into the building and into their path. Angel had done his best to lead them through the myriad network of passageways, some of which seemed to spring up out of thin air, towards the nearest batch of Wolfram and Hart doctors but after what felt like a quarter of an hour they had only managed to get back to the main cafeteria and Buffy ordered an all stop, cleaning some debris off of a chair so that Spike could set Sam down into it.

"I know that we're close, we have to be," Angel announced with a serious look on his face as he checked behind the counters for any ubervampires or harbingers.

"That's what you said five minutes ago Angel," Buffy moaned with an annoyed scowl on her face as she knelt down beside Sam and unconsciously began to fumble around in her pockets for a cigarette.

"Go easy on him luv, can't you see that Angel's suffering from the effects of being a bloody…," Spike joked with a sly smirk on his face before a glare from Angel cut his joke off and he put his abundant amount of energy to better use as he began to search for a first aid kit.

"I smell blood…," Angel stated with a deep in thought frown on his face as he knelt down beside a darkened patch of blood on the carpet and swished his hand around a bit before bringing the blood up to his face so that he could smell it better. A couple seconds later his tongue darted out and he licked up a bit of the blood.

"Ew Angel…anyone ever tell you that you're one sick puppy," Buffy said with an unhappy and grossed out look on her face before she shook her head and went back to getting Sam's vest off so that she could get at her wounds easier.

"Yes…many times in fact, but it didn't matter, I killed them all afterwards," Angel replied with an emotionless and hollow tone to his voice before he half turned his head, saw the shocked look on Buffy's face, and softened his demeanor. "Sorry…channeled a bit of Angelus there," Angel apologized with a nervous and frustrated expression on his face before he wiped the rest of the blood off of his fingers and onto the tablecloth of an overturned table nearby.

"Yeah well next time you get nostalgic, warn me…I'll remember not to eat beforehand," Buffy replied with a slightly queasy look on her face before Spike returned with a couple of towels and the first aid kit.

"How's she doing," Spike asked with a sympathetic smile on his face as he handed Buffy the first aid kit and towels and pulled up a chair for them each to sit on.

"N…not," Sam stammered out with a pained grimace on her face before she squeezed her eyes shut and winced terribly in pain as Buffy accidentally bumped the edge of one of the cuts.

"She's not doing well, her breathing is becoming shallow and her heart rate has decreasing ever since we left the parking lot…," Angel added with a very concerned and grim frown on his face as he began to pace back and forth around the room, cocking his head to one side and acting very impatiently.

"Thank you Angelus M.D., next time you've got some bit of medical insight like that…," Spike started to joke with a sly grin on his face, as he turned his head back towards Angel, before Buffy stepped in with a hand on Spike's arm and by loudly clearing her throat.

"If all the two of you are going to do is argue like two schoolboys I'll…," Buffy began with a less than pleased tone to her voice as she popped open the first aid kit and started to take out the contents.

"Sorry pet, it's just that when Peaches and I get in a tense situation we tend to resort to fighting about anything and bloody well everything to keep from admitting that we're scared or unsure about something," Spike stated with a solemn pout on his face as he only briefly glanced in Angel's direction before he began to unravel some of the bandages.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place and stay away from the petty bickering," Buffy asked with an impatient look on her face as she took the unraveled bandages from Spike and was just about to gently pull Sam's shirt away from the cuts when the double doors to the cafeteria burst open and in swept Gunn, weapon at ready, followed closely behind by Fred, Cordelia, Lorne, and Kelli.

"Angel…," Cordelia shouted with a happy and relieved smile on her face before she rushed to him and enveloped him in a warm and tight hug.

"Cordelia…what are you…," Angel began to ask with a very surprised look on his face before Lorne cut him off.

"Sorry big guy but no time for idle chit chat with the girlfriend, we've got trouble that'd make Charlton Heston scream like a schoolgirl," Lorne exclaimed with a frantic and hurried smile on his face before he caught sight of Sam's injuries and winced in shared pain.

"Translation…anyone," Buffy asked with a totally confused look on her face as she turned first to Spike and then to Angel, who had just untangled himself from Cordelia's arms.

"We've caught sight of something that looks like a giant snake…or slug, whatever it is it's huge, headed this way, and smashed a hole bigger than a Mack truck in the side of the new high school," Fred answered with a nervous frown on her face as she got a better grip on her axe and tried her best to smile confidently.

"Oh…is that all, and here I was thinking that we were in trouble," Spike quipped with an amused smirk on his face before Buffy smacked him on the shoulder, but turned her head away quickly enough so that he wouldn't be able to catch the smirk on her face.

"Whatever's making a beeline for us can wait, Sam needs medical attention," Buffy exclaimed with a quick glare Spike's way before she set the bandages down on the table and stood up.

"How bad is she," Fred asked with a worried look on her face as she rushed forward and knelt down beside Sam, smiling faintly to Spike in the process.

"Bad enough that if she doesn't get help now she probably won't make it, and I'm really not in the mood to have Captain Cardboard blame me for another one of his relationships going belly up," Spike grumbled with an unhappy frown on his face as he stood up and fished around in his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter.

"She's not going to die, not if I have anything to say about it…," Buffy stated with a very firm and confidant expression on her face as she stepped around her chair, grabbed the lighter and cigarette that Spike had finally managed to produce from the depths of his duster and lit it up before taking a long drag, not caring who saw her this time.

END OF CHAPTER 28


	29. Neighbor From Hell

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Amy, Kelli, and Alyssa.**

**CHAPTER 29-NEIGHBOR FROM HELL**

"Okay…yeah, you know maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Alyssa mumbled to herself with a meek and scared smile on her face as she brushed a few stray locks of hair back behind her ear and got a better grip on her battle axe. She had been surprised that Giles hadn't immediately rushed out of the house and ordered her back inside when he had discovered her missing but she had guessed that he had found himself both unable to leave the potentials all alone or send any of them out after her. She pulled her thin jacket tighter around her body, cursing her misfortune to have packed the one jacket that did little for warmth, but accentuated her developing curves, before leaving Miami. She had expected that the nights in California would be warmer, and even if sunrise was only a few minutes away she knew that she wouldn't feel safe until the sun was directly overhead.

"Now what is wrong with this picture…ah yes, a beautiful young American girl out on a stroll through town at such a late hour…," Ethan cooed with a confidant smirk on his face as barely held back his fit of laughter as he watched Alyssa first nearly stumble over her feet at his words and then very nearly jump out of her own skin at his sudden appearance under a streetlight.

"W…who are you," Alyssa shouted with a scared look in her eyes as she took a step back and brought the head of the axe up in front of her face, determined to protect herself to the best of her ability.

"Just a man in the wrong place at the wrong time, much like you actually," Ethan replied with the softest smile that he could manage as he tried not to initially scare Alyssa.

"Really, and you actually expect me to believe that line of bull…," Alyssa started to joke back with a confidant, if possibly cocky, smile on her face before she felt a presence beside her and tried her best to dive out of the way. But she soon discovered that she had not moved quickly enough as the tip of a curved knife slashed across her back diagonally from the small of her back clear up to her shoulder. Her scream of pain was soon followed by the sound of oxygen being sucked out of the air as a ball of fire erupted from the tips of Ethan's hands and quickly engulfed the harbinger that had wielded the knife. That was the last thing that Alyssa remembered before losing consciousness.

"How much time do we have before whatever's coming gets here," Buffy asked with an impatient scowl on her face before she took another drag of her cigarette.

"We don't have enough information to formulate an exact…," Fred began to answer with a concerned and unhappy frown on her face before Gunn stepped in.

"It doesn't matter, we're on the run as is and still don't know where everyone is," Gunn interjected with a frustrated and unhappy scowl on his face as he shuffled over to an empty chair and sat down.

"Then the first thing that we should do if find everyone and regroup, if this…whatever it is out there is as bad as you're making it sound then we'll need all the help we can get, Fred, take Kelli and Cordelia and go to Buffy's house and get everyone there, if they won't come peacefully…make them, Spike…you and Buffy come with me, we have to find Faith and Wesley before we do anything else," Angel stated with a commanding tone of voice as he walked into the center of the room, allowing the hastily called Wolfram and Hart paramedics to rush in and load a barely conscious Sam onto a gurney and then tear out of the room.

"Are we part of the equation," Connor asked with an impatient and serious frown on his face as he stepped into the cafeteria, with a heavily panting Oz arriving a few silent moments later.

"Connor…," Angel shouted in both shock and alarm as he spun around and for a second hoped that it was just an illusion cast by the First.

"It's nice to know that you remember my name…Dad," Connor quipped with the smallest hints of a smirk playing about the edges of his mouth as everyone else in the room furrowed their brows and looked around in confusion.

"Dad…Angel," Buffy stammered out with a very confused look on her face before she choked on a drag of her cigarette and then coughed a couple of times to clear her throat.

"Well…it's, complicated…and when did you start smoking…," Angel started to stammer out with a flustered expression on his face before he quickly changed the subject and glared at Buffy.

"Don't change the subject Peaches, you have a son…," Spike jumped in with mostly a sarcastic look on his face that hid a bit of anger in his voice as he stepped up beside Buffy and took the cigarette from her before taking a drag off of it himself and then blowing the smoke directly into Angel's face.

"Yes, Angel has a son…so what," Cordelia stated with an impatient frown on her face as she glared across the room at Spike and Buffy and laid a hand on Angel's shoulder.

"We…found you, we tried to find Willow and Dawn and the others, but we found you first," Oz gasped out softly as he doubled over to try and catch his breath, hoping that Willow and the others had already been found.

"Oz…what are you doing here," Cordelia asked with a subdued look of surprise on her face as she walked around in front of Angel and turned her gaze towards Oz, intentionally not looking at Connor.

"Cordelia…," Connor breathed in a barely audible voice with a small smile of joy on his face before the memories of what had happened, and their aftermath, between himself and Cordelia flashed through his mind, and he lowered his gaze to the floor but kept a tight grip on his weapon.

"Connor…we need to talk…alone," Angel stated with a slightly nervous tone to his voice as he took a step forward, glaring around at everyone to make sure that they knew that he wanted to talk to Connor by himself.

"This ought to be interesting…I can't wait for Angel to try to explain all of this," Spike whispered softly into Buffy ear with an eager smile on his face as he handed Buffy back the cigarette.

"Me either, but it's going to have to wait, we have to much going on right now to go all Dr. Phil on anyone," Buffy whispered back under her breath in between drags on the cigarette while Oz staggered over towards them, still trying to catch his breath.

"So what's the good word wolf boy," Spike asked with an impish smirk on his face as he laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder and leaned into her slightly, an act that she reciprocated in turn.

"Always the comedian huh Spike…anyway we have to find Willow and the others, especially with Adam running around through the walls," Oz quipped at first with a sarcastic smile on his face before his expression grew grim and at the end he looked back over his shoulder.

"Ad…what, Adam…," Buffy spat out as she choked on a drag of her cigarette, prompting Spike to smack her on the back a couple of times with a flat hand before she straightened up and wiped a tear off of her cheek.

"I don't know how or why but he's back, we were all in some room that looked like the security room when he saw him on one of the monitors, then before we knew it he came crashing through the wall, Willow took Dawn and went one way, Faith and Wesley tore off towards the stairs, and Connor and I got out as fast as we could," Oz answered with a very concerned look on his face before he turned his face towards the bank of broken out windows and smiled inwardly as the first rays of sunlight began to creep over the horizon.

"We have to find them Spike, at least so that I can strangle Dawn for putting herself in so much danger," Buffy stated with a very serious and upset expression on her face before she took another drag on the cigarette and casually glance back over her shoulder at the approaching dawn.

The silk sheets were smooth against her bare skin. The warmth that enveloped her made it hard for her to leave the world of dreams that she was in. Consciousness came back to her slowly, allowing her to spread out across the bed. Almost instantly she was forced to squint and then squeeze her eyes shut as the rays of light coming in between the heavy curtains and landing squarely on her eyes. She tried to shake her head away from the offending beams of light but as she did so a searing pain shot up the middle of her back and brought tears to her eyes and a stifled scream of pain. Tears stung her eyes as she attempted to sit up, and after several painful moments she finally succeeded and sat up, letting the silk blankets fall down to her lap. It was at that moment that she noticed something peculiar. "What the fuck," Alyssa mumbled with a scared stiff feeling in the pit of her stomach as she glanced down and saw only what God gave her staring back at her. Her shirt and bra were nowhere to be found as she quickly glanced around the room, much of which was hidden in shadows because each large window was covered by heavy curtains. With a grim and scared pout on her face she stiffly shook her head before she started to painfully slip out of the bed. She stopped almost instantly at the sight of first one and then two unclothed legs. Biting her bottom lip and squinting one eye tightly shut, partially due to the horror of what she was dreading she'd see and partially from the pain in her back, she pulled back the covers the rest of the way. She very nearly passed out when the blanket slipped away to reveal that she did not have a stitch of clothing on. The shaking came as an involuntary reflex, almost making her miss the scent that was clinging to her like a bad rash. When she stopped for a moment and sniffed a couple of times the strong and almost overwhelming scent of alcohol and old overpriced cologne struck her nose. Still with one eye closed Alyssa turned her head stiffly to one side and noticed some bottles of cologne and half empty bottles of various liquors on the nightstand beside the bed. Shaking at the pain in her back that the exertion caused Alyssa reached out and pulled the bottles to her, first the cologne and after sniffing them briefly knew where the smell on her body had come from. She only casually wafted the bottle of whisky under her nose before she squinted her eyes and took a drink, nearly spitting some of it back up. While it was true that she had drank back home in Miami it had never been very much and mostly just to appear to fit in with the in crowd. Alyssa was just about to set the bottle of whisky back down on the nightstand when she hear movement behind her. She didn't need to turn around for the intruder spoke up quickly.

"You shouldn't be moving so soon miss…especially after last night," Ethan Rayne quipped with a sly and arrogant smirk on his face as he stepped into the room with a silk robe slung over his shoulder.

"S...stay away from me…," Alyssa mumbled out with an extremely nervous tone to her voice as she gritted her teeth through the pain and pulled the blanket up and tried her best to cover herself up.

"Funny…that's not what you said last night…," Ethan shot back with an evil grin on his face as he slid off his own robe and walked into the room.

"Nnh…damn," Faith mumbled softly as she lay motionless on the floor beside Wesley for a moment before she bent her elbow and brought her hand up to her face. Instantly she was aware that something was wrong. She cautiously, and painfully, opened one eye and very nearly died from shock at the sight of her fingers dripping wet with blood. For a brief instant her memory of the last several moments before she blacked out was blissfully lost to her. But that blissful world did not last very long as splintered bits of her past filtered back into her mind. With a pained grimace on her face, and a couple of tears slipping down her cheeks, she whimpered in pain as she used one arm to roll herself over so that she was on her stomach. Faith nearly retched as the pool of blood saturated the front of her clothes and was cold against her cheek. "Wes…," Faith asked, shakily at first before she yelled it out, an act that very nearly made her pass out in mid step because sparkles appeared before her eyes and the world in front of her began to spin. It was then that Faith spotted Wesley out of the corner of her eye. As carefully as she could, hoping to avoid any twinges of pain, Faith turned her head and took in the sight that would haunt her to her grave. Wesley lie there, crumpled up against a very dented filing cabinet, looking deathly pale and his hair drenched in sweat and blood. "No…Wesley, no…," Faith mumbled out through a sheet of tears that fell of their own accord as she scrunched up her face and hissed at the pain that each motion caused while she slowly crawled back over towards Wesley. Her heart almost burst out of her chest upon discovering that Wesley still had a pulse. "W…wait here Wes…I'll…," Faith started to say with a very serious tone to her voice and look on her face before she felt warm and the world started to spin around once more. But this time the world did not stop spinning around in circles until her world went black and she collapsed down overtop of her lover, unconscious.

"Amy…Vi, have either of you seen Alyssa," Giles asked with an impatient frown on his face as he walked into the kitchen and pulled the curtains closed to shut out the midmorning sunshine.

"Uh…nope," Amy replied with a little bit to sugary sweet smile on her face before she took a large bite of a granola bar and proceeded to concentrate fully on chewing.

"Really…," Giles muttered back in a skeptical reply with a growing look of concern on his face before his gaze flickered over the weapons on the island and he noticed the missing battle axe.

"Maybe she's upstairs…," Vi offered with a timid and scared smile on her face before she cowered and quickly looked away as Giles glared down at her.

"Okay…she got all huffy and grabbed the axe and left," Amy finally admitted through a mouthful of granola, much to Giles's shock, before she slumped her shoulders forward a bit and turned to glance up at the clock.

"My God…she could be anywhere by now, injured…or worse," Giles worried aloud with a very serious expression on his face as he fumbled in his pockets for his keys before he shook his head in dismay and stalked off out of the room to get the phone that had just started to ring.

Sam awoke to what she at first thought to be a dream. Her head swam merrily and her body felt as light as air. She could remember the ubervampire slashing her across the stomach with its claws but for some reason she could feel no pain. "Ah…the drugs," Sam thought to herself with a happy smirk on her face before she opened her eyes. Through the haziness of her vision she could make out that she was in a room that she had never seen before. At the far end of the room a young woman sat, wrapping her dark red hair up into a bun, while scribbling something down on a clipboard. Doctors in white coats milled about the room checking on several of the other patients. Sam thought that she recognized a couple of them. One a beautiful young woman with dark brown hair that looked to have collided with something very hard as she was very nearly overrun with bandages while the man beside her looked like he was hooked up to every machine that the doctors had to offer.

"Hey look, she's awake," A voice called out over the din before Sam breathed a deep sigh of relief as she saw Buffy walking up to her looking freshly showered and rested.

"Gee, lucky us…," Spike groaned with a fake tone of annoyance in his voice as he rolled his eyes and followed along after Buffy.

"Shut up Spike," Buffy mumbled harshly under her breath back to Spike as she lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Buffy…where am I," Sam asked weakly with a half smile on her face as she turned her head to the side and looked up at Buffy and Spike.

"In one of Wolfram and Hart's private hospitals, this place is just for their elite," Buffy replied with an almost mocking smile on her face as she thought of the waste of potential that the hospital represented.

"H…how," Sam mumbled back softly as she swallowed hard and closed her eyes against the room's bright lights.

"Magic…same way that they got these two here so fast, the watcher wouldn't have made it otherwise, and Faith well…," Spike drabbled on with an almost bored look on his face as he nodded his head back towards the people in the two beds nearest to the one that Sam was in.

"I didn't…know that Wolfram and Hart, had a facility in Sunnydale," Sam wondered aloud with a confused frown on her face as she feebly attempted to rub her right eye.

"Uh…they don't," Buffy started to reply with an uncomfortable and unsure smile on her face before she turned and looked over at Spike, who looked shocked and surprised for a bit before he helped out.

"You're not in Sunnydale anymore luv, you're in Los Angeles, Angel's boys didn't have the right equipment with them in Sunnydale so they sent you, Faith, and Wesley back here for treatment," Spike added with a calm and almost impish smirk on his face as he pulled up a couple of stools and sat down on one after Buffy sat down on the other.

"How bad is it…," Sam asked with a hesitant look of fear on her face as she tried to sit up enough to get a glimpse of her heavily bandaged stomach.

"Let's just say that you won't be entering any beauty contests in the near future," Spike replied with a nervous smile on his face as he tried to stay positive but found it impossible.

"Spike…," Buffy exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she smacked Spike in the back of the head before calming down and turning back to Sam and continuing, "Don't listen to him…nah it's not really that bad, hopefully if these medics did their job right you won't even have a scar."

"I just hope that Riley doesn't…oh God, I forgot about Riley, Buffy…I need to…," Sam began to exclaim with a very worried look on her face before Angel slowly entered the room.

"Easy luv, I'm sure that ole Captain Cardboard can survive a few hours away from you," Spike joked with a somewhat tired smile on his face before Angel walked up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"He's going to have to…we have reports of harbingers and those super vampires massing in the high school, not to mention whatever blew that hole in the side of the school…and then Adam and…the list goes on and one…Buffy, Spike…I need the two of you to be ready, because one way or another…this all ends tonight," Angel stated with a very serious and matter of fact look on his face, given the strong impression that his mind could not be changed from its current course of action no matter what.

"Andrew…Andrew," Robin shouted as he saw the former nerd stumble into the openness of the gymnasium, looking like a tourist on their first time to the big city, starring all around. After Glory's impromptu visit Robin and Andrew had fled as fast as they could, with them ultimately going their separate ways after Andrew had tried to take a corner to fast and had slid down the steps. Robin had finally found what he considered to be a safe spot on top of the folded up bleachers, feeling that Glory would not be looking for him there.

"Mr. Wood…," Andrew exclaimed with a great smile of relief before he heard a sound behind him and had to glance back over his shoulder.

"Get over here," Robin shouted again as he slowly crawled down the edge of the bleachers and checked their escape route out to the parking lot.

"Where is she," Andrew exclaimed with a very scared look on his face as he scurried across the gym floor and would have hugged Robin if he had been turned towards him instead of still checking out their escape route.

"I don't know, but my car should still be in my parking spot, I left it unlocked and there should be enough gas in it to get us back to Revello Drive," Robin replied with a very serious and hurried look of exasperation on his face before he snuck a peek around the nearest corner.

"But what if she follows us," Andrew gasped out with a terrified and frantic expression on his face as he leaned heavily up against the bleachers to try and catch his breath.

"We'll have to worry about that later then, we have to get out of here and warn Giles that there's a new player in town," Robin stated with a very certain and confidant look on his face as he began to scoot through the hallway towards the schools back doors towards the parking lot.

"I hate running…," Andrew moaned with an annoyed frown on his face before he took a deep breath and hurried off after Robin, hoping to not run into Glory along the way.

END OF CHAPTER 29


	30. Last Rites

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Alyssa, Amy, and Kelli.**

**CHAPTER 30-LAST RITES**

Alyssa's memory of the moments immediately following Ethan Rayne's entrance into the bedroom would be obscured for the rest of her life. Despite the fact that her legs felt like Jell-O and that her clothes were nowhere to be seen she made a frantic attempt to get to the nearest door, one that Ethan had not used to enter the room, and pray to God that it lead to a way out. She scrambled into the room and had to resort to falling against the door to close it, hearing the sound of Ethan chuckling gleefully in the other room. With tears slipping down her cheeks and a searing pain in her back Alyssa fumbled with the doorknob until she was sure that it was locked.

"Oh come now my little poppet…this is only going to make things worse for you in the end," Ethan called out with a sinister and mildly excited smile of glee on his face as he walked slowly over to the bed and began to make it.

"Stay away from me you freak," Alyssa growled out with such an angry tone of voice that she surprised even herself before she clung to the sink like an addict to their last hit to help her wobble her way back up to her feet.

"A freak am I…please Alyssa, if you would just come out of the bathroom I believe that you would find out that I am far from being a…freak, as you so eloquently put it, in fact I believe that you and I could have a lot of fun together…," Ethan countered with a carefree tone to his voice and his movement as he continued to make the bed, stopping momentarily to take a deep whiff of the sheets.

"Fuck you," Alyssa screamed out at the top of her lungs, an act that almost caused her to pass out, before she regained her composure as best she could and used anything and everything as a support to get her over to a window on the other side of the room.

"A great idea but…sorry luv…we did that last night," Ethan shouted back with a rather pleased with himself grin on his face before he walked back out of the room and came back a moment later with a couple of bottles of wine and two glasses.

"Damn…," Alyssa groaned with a very sickly expression on her face as she fought back the urge to vomit for a bit before the urge became to overwhelming and she unloaded into the nearby toilet.

"Okay…I think the coast is clear," Xander announced with a nervous and excited all at the same time tone to his voice and look on his face as he looked back into the room and waved at the others.

"For now," Dawn groaned with a worried look on her face as Willow, as silently as possible, pushed her out of the room and out into the hallway, with Kennedy and Anya close behind.

"Where are we going," Anya asked with a confused and not overly excited expression on her face as she straightened up and peered in through the window into another room.

"We're…well we're…Will," Xander started to reply with an annoyed scowl on his face before he realized that he really had no idea where he was going and turned back to Willow.

"How should I know, as long as it's away from Adam it's okay by me," Willow stammered back with a nervous and scared look on her face before she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Kennedy.

"What iff we follow da signs dat say exit," Kennedy offered up with a hopeful and optimistic smile on her face as she slipped her hand into Willow's.

"Sound's like a plan to me, let's move out people," Xander stated with a more confidant tone to his voice than his earlier statement as he waved everyone behind him onward.

"Alright everyone, a quick status report, Adam has somehow been brought back to life and as of yet his current whereabouts are unknown, our city based camera took these pictures early this morning right before the sun came up, and from the looks on your faces I don't think that I need to tell you who our two friends are…," Gunn stated with a concerned sigh and shrug of his shoulders as he gestured to a large flat screen television that had been mounted on the wall behind him.

"Bloody…," Spike gasped with a shocked and surprised scowl on his face as he stared wide eyed at the images in front of him.

"No…," Buffy whimpered softly to herself, an act that only Spike and Angel heard, before she rolled her head back and sighed deeply. Spike was about to say something comforting when he felt her trembling hand find his under the table.

"So the big bad Mayor finally decided to run for another term…and he brought along the old duffer…," Spike said with a hopeful joke smile on his face before under the table Buffy squeezed his hand as hard as she could, nearly shattering the bones in his hand.

"That…old duffer Spike, is the Master, he's the vampire that sired Darla…and started everything, but Buffy killed him years ago…she killed them both…," Fred countered with a less than impressed scowl on her face as she initially glared across the table at Spike before he gave her his best smile and wink. After finishing her rebuttal of Spike no one noticed Fred look down at the papers in front of her in a furious attempt to hide her smile and red face.

"But yet somehow they're back, and we get the chance to kill them…this time for good," Cordelia said with an unhappy frown on her face as she turned to get a reassuring look from Angel.

"Okay…so what about Caleb, what do we do with him," Spike asked with an unconvinced frown on his face as he began to slowly trace lines in Buffy's palm with his thumb.

"We're working on that Spike, I believe that his power is directly proportionate to the characteristics of the hellmouth, thusly…," Fred began with a very excited and worthwhile smile on her face as she stood up and looked around the room before Angel held up his hands in mock defeat.

"Uh Fred…care to run that by us again…in English," Angel asked with a hesitant and slightly worried smile on his face as he hoped that he hadn't damaged Fred's ego.

"I think what she means is that Caleb gets his powers from the hellmouth, we shut it down…and we shut him down," Gunn replied with a couple of pauses and a nervous frown on his face as he turned to look over at Fred.

"But what if the First is giving him some of its power, I mean we already know that the First can manifest itself whenever and wherever it wants, maybe it's found a way to give Caleb some of its power," Buffy interrupted with a nervous and slightly scared look on her face before one of the proximity alarms went off.

"Are you sure you know where you're going," Andrew asked with a timid expression on his face as he puzzled at the name of the last street that they passed.

"Of course I know where I'm…why aren't you keeping watch," Robin started to reply with a hurried and frustrated scowl on his face before he looked up into the rearview mirror and saw Andrew staring back at him.

"Because she's not back there…and my neck hurts…why can't we…STOP," Andrew started to whine with a tired pout on his face before he spotted someone familiar out of the corner of his eye and yelled out the rest. Throwing caution to the wind Robin slammed on the brakes, such a sudden and sharp act that Andrew, who had been staring out one of the side windows at that moment, tumbled forward into the front passenger seat with a loud exclamation.

"What…," Robin shouted with a very angry sneer on his face as he reached into the tangled mess that was the former villainous nerd and grabbed him by the throat.

"I…I thought I saw…Alyssa," Andrew choked out as he tried, unsuccessfully, to pry Robin's vice like grip off of his neck while frantically pointing with his thumb back towards the side of one of the houses nearby.

"Alyssa…but she's…oh God," Robin started to say as he was about to give Andrew's neck a good squeeze when he recognized the young slayer trying to use the windowsill to pull herself back up to her feet. For a moment Robin was glad that there was a sizeable bush underneath the windowsill for the young potential to hide behind or he would have seen something that he hadn't wanted to see. With a flash of speed Robin let go of a gasping Andrew, put the car into park, and raced towards the clearly injured potential. "Alyssa…wait no, don't…stop," Robin shouted loudly as he raced across the lawn towards the shaking young woman, grabbing a large blanket that had been left out of the lawn on the way before he knelt down at her side just as she curled up into a ball and began to cry.

"No…," Alyssa mumbled frantically through the sobs as she increasingly tried to curl up into an even tighter ball while Robin tried to keep his heart from beating out of his chest as he threw the blanket around her.

"Andrew…," Robin yelled with a very nervous and confused edge in his voice as he carefully picked the terrified and sobbing potential up into his arms and turned back towards the car. Andrew started to respond as he climbed out of the car but the second that he caught sight of the state that Alyssa was in he quickly threw himself back into the car, yanked the drivers side door shut and buckled his seatbelt. Andrew didn't happen to glance back in the rearview mirror as Robin very nearly tumbled into the car and ordered him to drive, despite the presence of blood on the hands of the son of the slayer. Had he glanced back he might have seen Ethan Rayne step out of the house, grinning from ear to ear and giving them an almost cordial toast.

"Got a minute…," Angel asked softly with a cautious tone to his voice as he leaned into the darkened room, lit only by a lone lamp.

"You're in charge here…," Buffy mumbled back in reply as she unwrapped a pack of cigarettes and tossed the little bits of plastic into a nearby trashcan.

"Those things will kill you ya know," Angel countered with a scowl of disapproval on his face as his gazed was fixed on the pack of cigarettes in Buffy's hands.

"Thought that was your job…or at least your kind, kill the slayer before she…," Buffy began to say with a sad and depressed pout on her face as she slumped down in her chair a bit and fished around in her pockets for Spike's lighter.

"Stop it Buffy, why can't you just admit that you're scared to death about all of this, I can see it…Spike, well…even he's not thick enough not to see it," Angel said with a concerned look on his face as he pulled up a chair and sat down beside Buffy as she pulled Spike's lighter out of one of her pockets.

"Did you actually have a reason for coming in here Angel, or was it just to poke fun at me…," Buffy rebounded with a dose of venom in her voice as she turned her head away from Angel and lit up her first cigarette.

"Stop it Buffy, this isn't the time or the place to be arguing like two children, tonight could very well be the end of the world and you're acting like a…," Angel snapped back with a very frustrated and impatient scowl on his face as he gripped the back of Buffy's chair and had to work hard to contain his anger.

"I know how I'm acting Angel…and it's because I can't take it anymore, any of it…when this is all over tonight, provided that we live of course, we're done…Spike and I are done for good, no more spending every night patrolling and saving the world from one disaster after another, that's your job," Buffy quickly replied, staring off into space with an almost haunted look in her eyes, as she calmly flicked the ashes off of the end of her cigarette into a small ashtray.

"You speak for him now…," Angel asked, more than a bit surprised at Buffy's words, as he let go of the back of Buffy's chair and leaned back.

"That I do Angel, sure he'll still want to go out occasionally but as for the fate of the world resting in our hands…that all ends tonight," Buffy answered with a half look of interest on her face as she rolled the cigarette back and forth between her index finger and thumb.

"And I can't talk you out of this…," Angel wondered aloud with a hopeful expression on his face as he stood up and cautiously laid a hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"Sorry…but no, you used to be able to talk me into our out of basically anything Angel, those days are behind us now…and forever," Buffy stated with an almost sad and nostalgic smile on her face before she took a deep breath and another drag on her cigarette.

"Are you and I…we still good then…," Angel asked with a quietly worried look of concern on his face as he optimistically waited for Buffy's answer.

"Always…," Buffy softly whispered back after blowing out some of the smoke and turning her head to look up at Angel.

"How the leg pet," Spike asked with a soft look in his eyes as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Molly.

"Okay I guess…still hurts like a bloody son of a…," Molly began to say with a forced smile on her face before Spike broke into a smile and chuckled a bit.

"It won't be long now…pretty soon Buffy and I and the others are going to have to go back to good old Sunnydale for the big throw down," Spike pointed out with a less than thrilled look on his face as he stared past Molly and concentrated on a small spot on the far wall.

"Yeah…try not to die huh…because I'd hate to have to have Angel teach me how to fight," Molly stated back with a steadily growing smile of sarcasm on her face as at first she stared straight ahead, trying not to let her level of worry show through, before she couldn't help but turn her gaze to Spike.

"Yeah luv…I'd hate that to…," Spike whispered back softly before he reached out, gave Molly's hand a reassuring squeeze, and then went off in search of Buffy.

"Mr. Giles come quick, it's Andrew and Mr. Wood," Amy exclaimed with a look of frantic panic on her face as she tore down the stairs, very nearly slipping on the bottom one because of her eagerness to relay the news.

"What…," Giles stammered out with a very confused expression on his face as he looked up from teaching the potentials about how to properly block against a much taller opponent.

"They're back…Alyssa's with them…it's bad…," Amy stammered out with a terrified look on her face before she dug her fingernails in to the railing.

"Bad…how bad," Giles asked with a grave look of concern on his face as he lifted his head up and turned to face Amy.

"Really bad…she's bleeding, and crying and Andrew's a mess…," Amy shouted back in reply with a still terrified look of panic on her face as she reluctantly let go of the railing and took a step back up the stairs.

"All of you stay here, Vi…you're in charge until I get back, continue to do the blocking routines until I come back and tell you otherwise, Amy…lead the way," Giles stated with a very concerned and serious edge to his voice before he charged up the stairs behind Amy and stepped into the kitchen just as Robin and Andrew came in through the front door with Vi holding it open, looking as if she were about ready to pass out.

"Giles," Andrew called out with such a look of panic on his face that internally Giles wondered how the former geek had even been able to make it through the door without passing out.

"How bad is it," Giles asked with a very serious and slightly unsure tone to his voice as he directed Robin upstairs and into Buffy's old bedroom.

"I couldn't tell through the blood…and there was something else…," Robin began to say with a hesitant and unsure look on his face as he gently laid Alyssa down on the bed.

"What could possibly…oh," Giles started to ask with a look of deep concentration, as he started to pull the edge of the blanket back, before he noticed that the blanket was the only covering that Alyssa had.

"Sorry Rupert but it couldn't be helped, when we found her she was already naked and barely moving, we rushed her right over here," Robin answered with a cautious look on his face as behind him Andrew went into damage control and did his best to keep Amy and Vi out of the bedroom.

"This will need to be handled very delicately…," Giles started to say with a nervous look on his face before to a great degree his most immediate problem was solved.

"Giles…," Willow's voice called out from downstairs as she pushed Dawn in through the door with Kennedy helping her while Xander and Anya shut the door behind them.

"Giles we got trouble," Xander shouted with a very serious and nervous tone to his voice before he collapsed down onto one of the chairs in the living room and leaned back, trying to catch his breath.

"Dat's the understadement of da year," Kennedy added with a tired and scared expression on her face before she followed Xander's actions and sat down on the couch, letting Willow help Dawn find a seat in the dining room as Giles quickly came down the stairs, his mind full of questions.

"God, what…damn…," Faith mumbled softly as any and all actions that she made caused a brilliant blast of painful stars to explode in front of her eyes as she finally came to.

"Good you're awake," Angel stated with a very concerned smile on his face as he walked away from the necro-tinted windows and to her bedside.

"Angel…oh God…Wesley, where…," Faith continued with a panicked look on her face as she tried to sit up in bed, only to throw herself back down flat on the bed and grit her teeth against the pain while Angel hoped that she hadn't pulled her iv tube out in the process.

"Whoa, easy Faith, calm down…Wesley's right here," Angel said with a hurried and concerned look on his face as he pulled a chair closer to Faith's bed and laid a hand on her bare arm.

"Where…Angel," Faith pleaded with a pained look on her face as she kept her eyes closed in the hopes that it would help the pounding in her head.

"Right next to you…see," Angel quickly said with a nervous tone in his voice as he reached over and picked up Wesley's hand off of the bed and pulled it over until it was far enough across the gap that Faith could reach out and interlock their index fingers at the tip. Wesley's touch, even though he was currently unconscious and in a drug induced coma seemed to calm Faith down, but only a small bit.

"Angel…thank you, look…I need to ask you for something," Faith mumbled back with an oddly nervous tone to her voice, one that made Angel sit down in the chair and prepare himself for what he thought would be bad news.

"When I heal enough to get around…I'm leaving…by myself," Faith started to say with a confidant and serious edge to her voice before she couldn't continue as her voice cracked and she had to look away from Angel.

"You're not going anywhere Faith, I won't let you…I don't know the entire story about what happened to put you two in your current condition but I can tell by the way that you're acting that you blame yourself for it, and you think that running away will solve everything…make it easier on Wesley and the rest of us…well sorry Faith but that's where you're wrong, you'd only be hurting him more if you left, Wesley's not exactly a saint you know, he's made some bad decisions in his day and he's had to pay for them…," Angel said as he interrupted Faith's escape speech to give her a piece of his mind and to make sure that she knew how he felt.

"But Angel I…," Faith started to say as she managed to open her eyes again, but this time without the painful fireworks display.

"I swear that I never saw the two of you together coming Faith, but ever since you have…you're both better because of the other, so in other words I'm not going to let you leave…even if it means drugging you senseless until he comes to…," Angel added with a very serious and sincere look in his eyes as he made sure that this time Faith was looking him squarely in the eyes.

"I don't think I can do it Angel…be good and all, not in front of everyone who knows how big of a whore I am…," Faith relented, uncharacteristically, softly at first before her voice further softened into almost a barely audible whisper.

"You're not a whore Faith…no matter what you think, but I agree that it would be very hard for you and Wesley to make this work in surroundings that are constantly reminding you of your failures…so if you agree not to leave and to help in Wesley's rehabilitation then…I have a proposition for you that I think you're going to like…," Angel shot back with a still very serious and sincere look in his eyes as he stood up and helped Faith get her arm back onto her bed as he could tell that her strength was quickly being sapped.

"I'm not going to work for Wolfram and Hart here in LA Angel…or anywhere else for that matter, I'm done playing for the devil," Faith countered with a slowly weakening tone of voice as her eyelids were starting to become heavy.

"You're right…you are, but we'll talk about this all later, once you wake up…," Angel started to say with a much softer tone of voice than he had used earlier before Faith's eyelids became to heavy for her to keep them open and she drifted off back into sleep.

"How much time do we have…," Cordelia asked with an impatient pout on her face as she finished climbing the last few steps up to the roof of the hospital with Fred close behind.

"About an hour…then the sun goes down and all hell breaks loose," Gunn replied with a deep breath as he continued to scan the streets below with his binoculars.

"Guess it gives happy hour a whole new meaning huh," Cordelia joked with a nervous smile on her face squinted her eyes against the sun's glare and stared down at the deserted streets below. Thirty minutes earlier Angel had arrived with a large contingent of Wolfram and Hart soldiers, some borrowed from other branches, and hopefully enough firepower to win the day.

"Is everyone in position…," Angel asked from the shadows of the stairwell with an unhappy frown on his face he impatiently waited for the sun to go down.

"Almost there Angel, Connor and his team are almost at the school, we haven't located Adam yet but something tells me that's only because he doesn't want to be found, and just before you came up I sent some trucks over to Revello Drive to pick everyone up," Gunn answered confidently with a slightly unsure smile on his face before he put his binoculars down and turned back to Angel.

"Revello drive…Angel, why did you have Gunn send trucks there…," Cordelia asked with a slightly confused look on her face as she walked back away from the edge of the roof and back towards Angel and the stairwell.

"Because even though I'd rather see Giles get what's coming to him I don't want anymore innocent blood on my hands…," Angel replied calmly after remaining silent for several moments.

"And because if anything were to happen to any of them…Buffy would never forgive him," Fred added with an impish grin on her face, one that Gunn quickly shared, before a less than thrilled Lilah walked up.

"What do you want Cruella," Gunn asked with a sarcastic smile on his face as he went back to scanning the streets below with his binoculars.

"Do you really think that this is going to work Angel, the First isn't some evil that you can do away with simply by dumping a bucket of water on it like the Wicked Witch Of The West in The Wizard Of Oz, more than likely you'll all die tonight…," Lilah replied with a cold smile on her face as she crossed her arms and stepped in between Angel and Cordelia, making sure that she could see the angry scowl on Angel's face.

"Shouldn't you be scurrying under some rock with the other cockroaches right about now Lilah," Fred stated with a very calm and under control expression on her face before she checked to make sure that the safety on her gun was still on, making sure to let Lilah see this action and gets its full meaning.

"Ooh…that hurt, anyway Angel the First is going to try to cross over tonight, and if it can succeed then not even Wolfram and Hart can stop it," Lilah said, at first assuming a fake look of fear on her face, before she smiled at Angel.

"Then it's all very simple Lilah, we stop the First from crossing over by any means necessary, and if the Initiative tries to get in our way…as I expect them to…then we're going to have a few surprises for them, and if that doesn't work then I'll just use my ace in the hole," Angel replied with a calm and somewhat impatient frown on his face as he looked up out of the stairwell and hoped that sunset wouldn't be that much longer.

"You're ace in the hole…and just what might that be…," Lilah asked with an impatient frown on her face as she took step towards Angel and glared down at him.

"Sorry Lilah, but you're just going to have to wait like everyone else…," Angel started to say with a smug grin on his face before he noticed the change in light and stepped up a couple of more steps.

END OF CHAPTER 30


	31. All Out War

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Alyssa, Kelli, and Amy.**

**CHAPTER 31-ALL OUT WAR**

Connor anxiously strode down the street, feeling the smooth edges of the shaft of the axe that was strapped to his back. Behind him his two dozen strong unit fanned out onto both sides of the street. He had chosen each and every one of them himself; something that he noticed afterwards had taken almost the entire day. Angel had let him choose the men from the list of all of the Wolfram and Hart soldiers that were currently in Sunnydale. He and his men had hurried as fast as they could to get to the school before the sun set. He deployed his men in two groups, sending one around to the back of the school while deciding to take the rest of them straight into the school with him.

"Everyone ready…," Connor asked with a serious tone to his voice and a grim scowl on his face as he unsheathed his sword and looked back at his men.

"Yes sir," They all exclaimed in unison, whether out of fear or respect Connor wasn't exactly sure.

"Then let's go…kill anything that isn't human," Connor stated with a completely emotionless expression on his face before he lifted the point of his sword up and headed inside.

"I'd have thought that we would have gotten a warmer reception than this," Spike stated with a glum frown on his face before he flicked his stub of a cigarette away.

"Easy Spike, we're just getting started, it's our job to take out these harbingers…granted that before we can do that we actually have to find them but…," Buffy sputtered out before she took another drag of her cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke.

"We're usually pretty good at that, harbingers seem to usually be about as plentiful as cockroaches…but now they're nowhere," Spike added with an impatient frown on his face as he knelt down and poked at some of the accumulated trash in the tunnels with the tip of his sword.

"They'll be here soon enough, what with you making all of that noise…," Buffy stated with a pretend glare cast Spike's direction even though she was doing her best to keep from smiling like a fool.

"Me…sorry pet but if I remember correctly I wasn't the one that was wailing like a bloody banshee…," Spike joked with a sly grin on his face as he slowly turned around and beamed up at Buffy.

"Hey…that was only because you wouldn't stop…," Buffy started to say with a sarcastic scowl on her face before a noise from further on down the tunnel caught her attention.

"What…," Spike started to ask with a slightly confused look on his face before his senses kicked in and the time for talking was over, they had found the harbingers.

"Uh Giles…we uh, need to talk…," Willow stated with a very shaken and teary eyed expression on her face as she stepped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Oh really…about what pray tell, what happened to Alyssa last night, or why none of you that I sent out reported back…for a day and a half," Giles replied with a very concerned and frustrated scowl on his face as he scratched at the beginnings of a beard.

"Look Giles, we meant to call…we really did, but you know how things go in this town, nothing goes right…," Willow protested with a meager smile on her face as she walked past him and into another of the bedroom's, quickly checking to make sure that no one else was in the room.

"I believe that the telephone's were working this entire time Willow, so whatever we have to discuss it had better be damn important or else…," Giles started to say with a less than thrilled frown on his face as he followed Willow into the room before she cut him off.

"She's pregnant Giles…Alyssa's pregnant…," Willow stuttered out with a look of disbelief on her own face, one that soon matched the look on Giles' face.

"Are you sure," Giles quickly shot back, not completely ready to accept Willow's diagnosis of Alyssa's condition.

"Aura's don't lie Giles, and here's another shocker, I don't think that she was pregnant when she arrived…," Willow answered slowly with a very serious and worried frown on her face as she sat down on the bed and stared out of the window.

"How can that be, that doesn't make any sense, the only ones capable of…but they never…," Giles stammered out with a very deep in thought frown on his face as he began to pace the room, wracking his brain for a logical explanation.

"Andrew and Robin did say that they did see a guy after they picked Alyssa up, maybe he…but why would he still be here, everyone else cleared out days ago…," Willow wondered with a worried and confused look on her face as she turned her gaze back to Giles.

"Did…did they give you a description of the man, did Alyssa say anything about him…," Giles asked with an almost scared look in his eyes before he turned away from Willow and walked over to the window, staring out of it sadly.

"Alyssa didn't say much…understandably, all that she said was something about being called luv, and that the guy was older and British and very smug…," Willow replied with a tired and somber smile on her face as she hoped that her answer would help Giles figure out who was behind it all. Giles paced around the room silently for a few moments before he straightened up and slapped his forehead in a manner as if to say that he just realized something that blew him away.

"I don't know about…bloody hell…damn him…," Giles exclaimed with an astonished look on his face before his face grew grim and filled with more seething hatred than Willow had ever seen. Before she could say anything though Giles threw open the door and descended the stairs.

"Any sign of Adam yet," Oz asked with a nervous twitching of his eyebrow as he flipped the safety off of his crossbow and half turned back towards Angel.

"Not yet…who knows maybe we'll get lucky and he vanished," Molly replied over the comlink with a youthful tone of hope and fear in her voice before Angel squelched it.

"We're not that lucky Molly, if we were I'd be human and none of this would be happening," Angel jumped in with a very serious and commanding look on his face as he got a good grip on his axe.

"Are we supposed to be bait," Kelli asked with a worried look on her face as she held her sword up defensively in front of her, appearing to think that if she kept the sword in that position that it'd protect her from anything.

"Of course not Kelli, Angel wouldn't be stupid enough to…Angel…," Cordelia started to quickly reply with a humorous laugh before she quickly stopped as Angel remained silent at first.

"Uh…well you see Cordy…," Angel started to say with a nervous smile on his face as he slowly turned back around to look at Cordelia before she jumped in.

"Angel," Cordelia shouted with a very surprised and angry expression on her face as she reared back and punched Angel in the shoulder.

"I knew I should have stayed in LA with Wes and Faith, those two had the right idea…," Lorne mumbled with a forlorn look on his face as his shoulders slumped a bit and he got a tighter grip on his crossbow.

"Alright settle down people, our job is to draw out the First's forces while the others try to close the hellmouth, for good…," Angel stated with a very matter of fact tone of voice before everyone's eyes grew wide as the ground beneath them began to shake violently.

"What the…," Oz mumbled with a very nervous and scared feeling in the pit of his stomach before the street exploded in front of him as a large serpent like creature exploded up out of the ground.

"Oh God…the Mayor," Cordelia screamed with a terrified and panic-stricken look on her face as she scrambled back away from the Mayor, who had now dropped its head down to get a look at those directly in front of it.

"You are late," Adam stated with a fake tone of unhappiness in his voice as he walked up out of the darkness.

"Sorry about that…but you know what they say, better late than never…," Angel joked with a serious tone to his voice but a joking smile was spread across his face before he hefted his axe and charged at the Mayor.

The harbingers were no match for Buffy and Spike; even a layman could see that. At least they were not a match for them with Buffy and Spike in the frame of mind that they were currently in. When the harbingers had invaded her home and kidnapped Spike Buffy had been weary and in the middle of something. But now she and Spike had gotten the drop on their prey by using some of the special presents that Angel had given to them before they left the hospital, namely a belt of hand grenades for each of them. When the battle had first started Buffy and Spike had cut off the only means of escape from the room that they found themselves in by lobbing a couple of grenades into the entrances of the exit tunnels. Then they had taken advantage of the ensuing confusion to launch their attack. Had the two not been in desperate circumstances to begin with Buffy and Spike would probably not have even started the fight, or used the grenades more. But as Spike slew the last of the harbingers Buffy tried her best to withhold an exclamation of surprise at how many harbingers they had killed.

"Looks like that's the last of them," Spike stated with a proud smile on his face, even though Buffy could detect a bit of relief in his voice, as he stabbed the last harbinger again just to make sure that it was dead.

"Yeah, for now…but we know that there's more of them out there somewhere, and Angel's plan can't work if…," Buffy started to say with a heavy sigh before she was interrupted by a blast from the past.

"Angelus' plan will fail," The Master stated with a very confidant sneer on his face as he walked into the room, smiling wickedly at the shocked look on Buffy's face.

"And we're here to make sure of that," Glory called out from her perch up on a ledge near the top of the room before she effortlessly jumped back down to the ground to stand beside the Master.

"No…this is not happening," Buffy sputtered out with a look of total disbelief on her face as she backed up a few steps, very nearly tripping over the bodies of the fallen harbingers at her feet.

"Wish I could say that I was happy to see you…," Spike joked with a very sarcastic smirk on his face as he glared daggers at their enemies.

"Spike…yes I remember you, one of the disappointments…," The Master stated with a mocking sneer on his face as he stepped forward and momentarily blocked Glory from Spike's view.

"What is this…some shitty take off of Buffy Summers, this is your life," Buffy asked with an impatient and angry look on her face, mostly to try to cover up her fear, as she stepped forward and raised the scythe.

"No…this is when you die," Glory stated with a very proud and confidant smile on her face before she became instantly obsessed with a split end.

"Over my dead body…and yes I'm bloody well aware of the irony," Spike exclaimed with a very clear and threatening tone to his voice, making sure that the Master and Glory got his point.

"You're just like Angelus, stubborn to the last an full of pride, but that matters little right now…seeing as how neither one of you will make it out of this room alive," The Master shot back with a very confidant and cocky sneer on his face as he gestured with his hands like he was leading and orchestra.

"You like to talk big don't you…just like last time, and if I remember correctly I dusted you…," Buffy quickly said with a very determined look on her face as she retraced her steps to stand beside Spike.

"Ah…that you did, but that is the past, I am here now and this time the result of our confrontation will be different, this time…," The Master began to proudly announce with an angry glare cast Spike's way before he was interrupted from behind by a quick burst of gunfire that ripped into his torso, sending Buffy and Spike diving to the ground.

"This time she'll make damn sure that there won't be a next time," Riley said with a very certain and serious look on his face before he took aim at the Master and squeezed the trigger as the rest of his men quickly filed into the room.

"Where is he going…," Andrew asked with a confused and scared look on his face as he watched Giles walk out of the house, loaded down with weapons and magical spell components.

"Who," Amy asked with a scared look on her face as she walked into the living room and shrugged her shoulders at Andrew.

"Giles…he just left looking like the librarian version of Rambo…ah Rambo…," Andrew replied with a look of awe on his face before he dreamily stared off into space at the last bit.

"He must know who attacked Alyssa…," Vi added with a nervous look on her face as she peered out of the shadows.

"And he's gone to get him," Amy guessed with a look of surprise on her face before she turned and looked at Andrew, seemingly silently asking Andrew if Giles could do something like that.

"I'd better tell Willow," Andrew exclaimed with a very frantic look on his face before he bolted up the stairs, missing the scene outside as Giles pulled away only mere moments before several large trucks pulled up, each bearing the Wolfram and Hart logo.

The Mayor easily dodged Angel's first attack, but not his second. Adam seemed to be enjoying the fighting as he stepped forward, taking on anyone or anything that crossed his path with a look of childish glee on his face. Oz was just about to fire off a bolt aimed directly at where he guessed Adam's heart was when he was knocked to the ground by a flick of the Mayor's tail, with his crossbow sent sliding across the pavement. Lorne leapt back out of the fray and was able to fire off a couple of bolts before he was tackled from behind by a trio of harbingers, which elicited a scream of panic from the empath demon. Kelli's hands were shaking mercilessly as the first harbinger rushed towards her. Nearly wetting herself with fright Kelli gripped her sword tightly, causing her knuckles to turn white, before she leaned back and parried the first strike of the closest harbinger.

"Kelli," Cordelia shouted in alarm before she hefted up her sword and charged towards the potential, hoping to draw some of the attackers.

"Help," Kelli screamed with a very panic-stricken expression on her face as she continued to parry blow after blow, but each time taking a step backwards and growing ever closer to a brick wall. While that was happening the Mayor snapped at Angel a couple of times, coming close to getting Angel the second time, close enough to tear away the bottom half of his duster.

"Cordy get down," Oz shouted with a very serious look on his face as he caught his breath and scrambled forward across the ground and grabbed his crossbow. Barely hearing his exclamation Cordelia only barely ducked as a bolt flew over her head and sliced into the throat of the harbinger that was about ready to plunge its knife into Kelli's stomach.

"Hey Oz watch it, that thing almost hit me," Cordelia shouted back at Oz with an angry scowl on her face before she blocked the attack of another of the harbingers with her sword and then slashed its throat open.

"This is not fun," Angel glowered with an unhappy and slightly nervous look on his face as he continued to try and dodge out of the way of each and every one of the Mayors attacks, even though he knew that the Mayor wasn't really trying that hard because Angel wasn't what he wanted to eat. He wanted Buffy.

"They're not doing so well…," Molly answered in response to Gunn's question as he and Fred continued to fly towards Angel's position in one of the Wolfram and Hart helicopters.

"You gotta give me odds here Molly, how outnumbered are they," Fred asked over the comlink as she did her best to keep her hair out of her eyes.

"The Mayor and Adam are down there with a lot of harbingers, if you guys don't get here soon then…," Molly replied with a very nervous and scared tone in her voice, a tone that Gunn and Fred quickly picked up on, as she slid her crossbow and sword closer to her, just in case.

"We're coming as fast as we can, but Molly you have to do something for us, when we're almost there we'll need you to tell Angel to get everyone out of there, then once everyone's safe we'll let loose," Gunn stated with a very grim and serious look on his face before he glanced back at the flotilla of helicopters behind him, each one armed to the teeth. All in all the flight of helicopters that Fred and Gunn were at the lead of had the firepower to level almost half of Sunnydale.

"But what if that's to late," Molly quickly asked back with a worried look on her face as she watched through the high powered telescope that had been set up on the rooftop so that she could watch from on high and help Angel plan his advance.

"Then we'll make sure that Adam and the Mayor don't hurt anyone else," Gunn answered with a very calm and deadly serious expression on his face before he pulled on a pair of gloves and took off his headphones.

Of the three Buffy was the only one that had fought both the Master and Glory and won. Spike had helped Buffy fight Glory but had also nearly been dusted by her, something that now fueled his fight against her. Riley charged into the room and instantly sought to take the Master on. The Initiative soldiers that Riley had brought with him stood no chance of even slowing Glory or the Master down but they rushed them anyway, firing off clip after clip, nearly hitting Buffy and Spike several times in the process. Buffy and Glory sought each other out through the fray and soon were throwing each other against one object or another. Spike had singled out the Master, and soon in between their punches a battle of wills was fought.

"So you're the Master…don't look like much to me," Spike quipped with a sarcastic grin on his face as he got a good punch in on the Master's shoulder before spinning back away from the next blow.

"You would do well to keep your tongue in check, it will bring you much pain," The Master growled back with a vindictive sneer on his face before he slashed Spike's left shoulder open with his claws, finally taking a step back and licking the blood off of his claws before suddenly spitting it back out. "What is this...filth, this is not human blood," The Master exclaimed with a look of extreme disgust on his face before he turned his angry glare accusingly towards Spike.

"You're right it's not, guess you're not as dumb as you look, it's pigs blood…mostly," Spike shot back with a pained smile on his face as he held his right hand over his bleeding left shoulder.

"Pig's blood, but…you are of my line, the blood of swine should be below you," The Master spat out with a very angry sneer on his face as he glared across at Spike, who did his best to shrug his shoulders and act as if he could care less.

"Sorry but human blood's not on the top of my list, hasn't been for awhile," Spike shot back with a somewhat tired look on his face before the Master rushed him, intent on landing another punch.

"And for good reason, it's fattening…and I'd hate for my lover to become a blimp," Buffy interjected with a sly smile on her face before she leapt in front of Spike and landed a kick on the Master's jaw.

"Lover…what, I'd thought that you would have learned your lesson with Angelus," The Master angrily growled after her recovered from Buffy's first kick and straightened up.

"Guess I'm a slow learner," Buffy quipped with a happy smile on her face as she shrugged her shoulders before she felt Spike dive out of the way behind her and she did the same. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the Master howling with anger as he rushed forward, only to be met by a likewise charge from Glory, who had obviously hoped to catch Spike and Buffy unawares, and drove the pointed end of a snapped off old mop handle straight through the Master's un-beating heart.

"Shit," Glory cried with a very angry scowl on her face as she slammed the old mop handle down to the ground and stomped her foot.

Giles laid caution to the wind and pushed the pedal to the metal. His nerves were almost as frayed as a man's could be. Over and over again in his mind he kept replaying the description of the man that Willow had described to him. From his recollections the description could fit only one man, Ethan Rayne. Giles ground his teeth together as he drove, hoping that he could catch up to Ethan before his former friend and confidante did what he came to Sunnydale to do. Knowing that whatever it was wasn't good Giles ignored the erratically blinking stop lights and frantically searched for any sign of his old friend. He was driving so erratically in fact that he didn't notice the man standing in the middle of the road until it was to late.

"You know…you really should watch where you're going," Caleb stated with a smug smirk on his face before another figure emerged from out of the shadows.

"Can I have him, he looks tasty," A fledgling vampire asked with an impatient pout on her face before she slipped her game face on and glared at Giles, who had just picked his head up from the steering wheel.

"No…not yet, we need a blood sacrifice for the ritual to be performed correctly, and I think that Mr. Giles here has just volunteered," Caleb stated with a calm and easy going smile on his face as he walked around the end of the smashed car and leaned on the door.

"You sure…because I really want to get this bastard back for sending me to the school," Rhona added with an unhappy scowl on her face as she walked into view in full game face, much to Giles's surprise.

"R…Rhona what…," Giles sputtered out in total disbelief as his eyes grew wide in shock and he tried to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"That little bitch Kennedy let me die…but I'm on the other side now and I'm going to have some fun with her when I find her…just wish that those stupid Initiative idiots didn't have to try to stake me when they realized that they'd forgotten about me in all of the fray," Rhona answered with a less than thrilled look on her face as she stepped into the light and Giles was able to see the large spot of blood on the front of her shirt right over her heart that led up to a slowly healing gash in her throat.

"No…please, you can't…you have to," Giles gasped out with a desperate look on his face as he tried to open the door but found that he couldn't because it had been crumpled.

"I have to what, follow you around as you throw out small little useless tidbits of information about battles that no longer matter, sorry…but I've got my eye on Kennedy and she and I are going to have a little party, before I rip her throat out and…," Rhona shot back with a very angry and vindictive sneer on her face before Caleb calmly held up his hand and smiled softly.

"Easy Rhona, your time with Kennedy will come but you have to wait for her to come to her, besides the two of you and the lovely Kennedy will have enough time to play in sin after you've…," Caleb interjected with a calm look on his face before he walked over and with one easy motion pulled the smashed in door off of the car and flung it into the nearby house.

"Come now Caleb, you're not being a very good host, you didn't even tell me that we have guests…and Rupert Giles at that," Ethan Rayne stated with a fake tone of total worry in his voice as he walked across the front lawn, slowly sipping a cup of hot tea as he went.

"You…bastard," Giles growled with a very angry sneer of pain on his face as he tried to extricate himself from his car.

"Now Rupert, let's not get angry, the lovely young lady and I had a fun night, why must you spoil it with…," Ethan started to say with a mocking smile on his face as he rubbed his finger around the rim of the cup of tea.

"You raped her," Giles exclaimed with a furious look on his face as his glasses were barely able to stay situated correctly on his face before the smile slipped from Ethan Rayne's face, but only momentarily.

"That I did…but that won't be of any consequence after tonight, once I have become the human host for the First nothing that any of your slayers or vampire allies do will matter any…I will become a God…," Ethan said softly with a very proud and smug grin on his face, in direct contrast to the look of total and utter shock and terror on Giles' face, as he walked back up towards the house and away from Giles.

"You're outnumbered Glory…five to one, why don't you just give up now and save yourself one hell of an ass whuppin," Buffy stated with a very daring and confrontational look of glee in her eyes as she stepped on top of the skeleton that was the Master only moments before, smashing his skull in with the heel of her boot to further give meaning to her words.

"Is that supposed to scare me…please, I've heard better from a bunch of…," Glory started to shoot back with a very scornful sneer on her face before she was interrupted by a swift kick to the teeth from Spike.

"Better watch it blondie, or else those pearly whites of yours are going to get shoved down your…," Spike exclaimed with a very proud grin on his face before Glory summoned up a bit of her powers and surged forward, catching him across the jaw with a punch that sent him flying up into the air and slamming through the room's brick wall.

"Spike…," Buffy screamed with a frantic expression on her face as she watched Spike go through the wall before spinning back around and leveling an intense glare at Glory.

"What…he had it coming," Glory stated through a proud grin on her face before Riley jumped her from behind, putting her in a headlock.

"Riley no," Buffy started to shout with a surprised and scared look on her face before Glory's expression turned from one of daring glee to one of a simmering bubble of anger.

"You get any closer and I'm going to have to charge you ya know," Glory stated with a sly and sexy grin on her face before she grabbed a hold of Riley and flung him off of her as if he were weightless. Buffy watched helplessly as Riley went sailing through the hole that Spike had originally made in the wall before there was a loud cursing by Spike. "Looks like it's just you and me slayer, only this time you don't have that troll's hammer," Glory added with a sly and arrogant smile on her face for a moment before Buffy couldn't control herself any longer and landed a punch right on the side of Glory's nose, causing the god to go stumbling backwards before tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground.

"What's the matter Glory, you don't seem very talkative now…," Buffy exclaimed with a very threatening look on her face before Glory growled in anger and leapt back up to her feet.

"You'll pay for that," Glory declared with a very serious and furious sneer on her face before she launched herself at Buffy, aiming to choke the life out of her.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Buffy snapped back with a sarcastic grin on her face before she ducked under Glory's attack and rolled out of the way.

"Angel clear out, get everyone out now," Molly nearly screamed over the comlink as she looked over her shoulder and shivered as the flotilla of Wolfram and Hart helicopters flew overhead, cloaking her in shadows.

"Go…everybody go," Angel shouted at the top of his unmoving lungs as he grabbed Lorne's collar and hauled the empath demon back up onto his feet.

"Angel what is it, what's going on," Cordelia exclaimed with a confused and terrified look on her face as she rushed over to him.

"Fire in the hole," Angel shouted over the commotion before Cordelia's eyes grew wide and she tore off away from Angel, grabbing a quickly tiring Kelli along the way and soon the two were racing off down the street.

"Angel…help," Lorne exclaimed with a very frantic tone to his voice as he flailed around underneath the pile of harbingers that were punching and kicking him.

"Oz get out of here now, I'll get Lorne," Angel yelled with a very grim and serious look on his face as he flung a harbinger off of Oz and ran over and dove into the pile of harbingers that were attacking Lorne.

"But what about…," Oz started to ask with a breathless edge to his voice before he was knocked back up into the air and through a large window by the Mayor as he surged forward, hoping to eat Angel and Lorne, in essence killing two birds with one stone.

"Just go…," Angel snapped back through the mass of arms and legs, even though he hadn't seen Oz's flight, before Adam stepped up and began to pull the harbingers off of the pile as if they were made of pillows. Just as the Mayor bore down on them, opening its gaping maw, Angel finally managed to grab a hold of one of Lorne's arms and using all of his might he pulled the empath demon and himself free of the pile and scrambled away from the scene, never looking back to see Gunn and Fred release the bomb.

"This sucks, I should be there," Faith mumbled with an anxious and scared frown on her face as she leaned her forehead up against one of the large glass panes of the Wolfram and Hart infirmary.

"Nnh…but you're injured," A very weary Sam stammered out from her bed before she winced in pain and brought a hand up to her forehead.

"Never stopped me before," Faith replied softly with the faintest traces of a smile curling up the edges of her lips as for a moment her mind raced back through the various times that she had fought while injured.

"But…it was easy before…before, you were alone, it was just you, you only had to look out for yourself, that's no longer the case," Sam replied slowly as between each point she took a couple of painful deep breaths. Faith opened her mouth to start to spit out a venomous one liner but just as she started to summon up the breath required the truth of Sam's words fully hit her. For the first time in her life Faith was not making decisions for herself alone. Now and to her hopefully forever she was thinking for two.

END OF CHAPTER 31


	32. Omega

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli, Amy, and Alyssa.**

**CHAPTER 32-OMEGA**

Connor entered the school carefully. He stuck to the shadows as much as he could, hoping to conceal his presence to whomever and whatever was lurking around the hallways as long as possible. His men tried to do the same but they were not as skilled in the art of stealth as he was and several times Connor had to hold himself back from saying or doing something to the offending soldier. They moved in through the large hole in the side of the building, with Connor hoping that whatever it was that made the hole was long gone, and preferably dead. They swept through the cafeteria, taking note that none of the food appeared to have been eaten, with everything seemingly being left out to rot and spoil. Kneeling down Connor picked up a stray can of pop and cocked an eyebrow in confusion when he found that it was still cold.

"What is it sir," One of his soldiers asked with a tense and nervous look on his face as he knelt down beside Connor, but kept his gun level.

"It's still cold," Connor replied in a harsh whisper before a sporadic burst of gunfire interrupted his thoughts.

"And that means…," Another of the soldiers asked with a nervous and confused look on his face as he checked behind an overturned table.

"It means that up until a few minutes ago this can was refrigerated, someone or something was just here," Connor replied with a frustrated and anxious tone to his voice before he caught a disturbing scent on the soft breeze that wafted in through the shattered windows. "Here they come," Connor stated with a very easy going smile on his face, getting confused stares from his soldiers, before a cadre of vampires materialized out of the shadows. Seconds later Connor was elbow deep in dust as he vented his frustrations and fears on the unlucky undead in front of him.

"Angel…Angel," Molly very nearly screamed out over the comlink, hoping that someone, anyone, would answer her.

"M…Molly," Lorne weakly replied as he tried his best to push some of the bricks away from his face.

"Where are you, are you okay, where's Angel," Molly blurted out very quickly with a terrified and frantic expression on her face as she wished more than anything that she could jump up out of her wheelchair and join in the fight.

"Let's see…in a world of hurt, definitely not, and no clue," Lorne mumbled back with a pained smile on his face as he tried to sit up but could only do so after Angel shoved a chunk of the wall off of his back.

"I'm here Molly, did it work," Angel replied with a cold stare down towards a meagerly smiling Lorne before he stood up and did his best to shake the dust and dirt off.

"I think so, but the dust hasn't entirely cleared yet," Molly replied with a hopeful and optimistic tone to her voice as she rolled herself up to the edge of the building.

"I need to know Molly, if either of them lived then…," Angel asked with a skeptical and somewhat scathing scowl on his face as he started to make his way back towards the epicenter of the blast.

"Gimme a minute," Molly snapped back with a frustrated and irritated scowl on her face as she angrily brushed some stray hairs off of her face and back behind her ear. Taking it slow she pulled herself up onto the edge of the building and did her best to try to make out the resulting damage from the explosion.

"We don't really have a minute pumpkin, we're running on borrowed time here," Lorne joked back with a sly smirk on his face as he started to follow Angel back towards the epicenter before Angel turned back momentarily, only long enough to send the empath demon a shut up glare.

"Let's just get this over with, we still have to help Buffy and the others, we have to…," Angel started to say with a very anxious and concerned look on his face before he stepped into a bank of fog and was very abruptly stopped.

"That was…unwise," Adam stated with a slight air of disdain for Angel as he stepped calmly out of the fog bank, holding Angel off of the ground by one hand around the vampires throat.

"Wake up Rupert, we're almost there," Ethan said with a slight hint of mockery in his voice as he tapped Giles lightly on the top of his head.

"Why do I have to carry him," Lysette asked with an impatient and unhappy scowl on her face as she glared heavily down at Giles.

"Because the master said so stupid," Rhona shot back with a spiteful sneer on her face as she stared lazily out of the window for a bit before Caleb brought the car to a stop a block away from the school.

"Now Lysette dear, after you get our good friend Mr. Giles here to the Hellmouth you and Rhona are free to bring sister Kennedy into the fold, but be careful, don't mess this up and reveal our plans to anyone," Caleb offered with a calm and confident smile on his face as he shut the engine off and undid his seatbelt.

"In that case I think that I will help you out," Rhona added with an interested smile on her face before she leaned over and pulled the slightly older vampiress into a meaningful kiss.

"That's enough of that for now you two, you'll have plenty of time to play later with your new friend, but first things first…," Ethan stated with an almost annoyed tone to his voice as he began to slowly walk down the street towards the school.

"Alright ya damn perro," Lysette muttered with a great look of scorn on her face as she and Rhona reluctantly picked Giles up and started to carry him towards the school.

"Do we really need them," Caleb asked with a bored look on his face as he half looked back at Lysette and Rhona while trying to keep up with Ethan.

"For now…but once the ceremony has begun they'll be no more than dead weight to us, I guess that they could be used as cannon fodder if the need arises…," Ethan replied softly after thinking for a few moments as he walked underneath a tree and smiled up at the dead body hanging out of it.

"What a happy time that will be…," Caleb stated with an enthusiastic smile on his face as he clapped his hands together and followed after Ethan, only casually glancing back to make sure that Lysette and Rhona were bringing Giles.

"Yes…it will, but first we need to cleanse this area of a rather annoying pest, namely the son of the first vampire with a soul," Ethan continued with a rather smug grin on his face as he stepped into the school and caught sight of Connor and his men fighting at the far end of one of the hallways.

"What is he doing here…," Caleb questioned with an alarmed and angry sneer on his face as he rushed forward in front of Ethan.

"Trying to stop us I'd have to wager…bright boy, but a bit to gullible for his own good," Ethan replied with a carefree and almost bored look on his face before he turned on his heel and headed for the basement.

"Come on Buffy…quit hiding, I'm going to kill you no matter what you do," Glory shouted through the tunnels as she continued her pursuit of her prey.

"Doesn't she ever shut up," Spike mumbled harshly under his breath as he crept along down a tunnel some feet away with Buffy nearby and Riley checking their position.

"We're almost to the school," Riley stated with a very grim and serious look on his face as he walked back up to Spike and Buffy.

"Makes sense I guess, this all started with the Hellmouth and it looks like the first is going to end it all with the Hellmouth, unless we stop it," Buffy whispered back with a very serious look on her face as she peeked her head around a nearby corner.

"Little Peaches should be up there right," Spike asked with small traces of a grin skipping across his lips as Riley looked on with a confused expression on his face.

"Yes Spike, Connor should be up there…," Buffy replied, using the shadows of the tunnel to hide her smile before Spike interrupted her moment of mirth and grabbed her hand and started to pull.

"He's not alone…and I don't mean Angel's Wolfram and Hart goons either, he's in trouble," Spike stated with a very dry and matter of fact look on his face as he and Buffy started to make their way down the tunnel.

"How can you tell," Riley asked with a demanding look on his face as he hurried to keep up with the two lovers.

"One of the benefits of being undead, my sense of smell is far superior to that of human beings, speaking of which you should really think about getting a new cologne…," Spike said back with a sly smile on his face before Buffy squeezed his hand hard as she started to hear sounds of a battle coming from somewhere above them.

"We should get up there," Riley started to say with a very determined and nervous look on his face as he continued on down the tunnel before Glory's words halted him.

"Don't even think about trying to run away from me, it's almost time for the ceremony, and after that it won't matter what any of you little insignificant specks do…tonight is the First's coming out party," Glory shouted at almost the top of her lungs as she stepped into the far end of the tunnel that Spike, Buffy, and Riley were in.

"Guess we're just going to have to crash the party then…," Buffy whispered softly with a very determined and confidant look on her face before she pulled Spike up out of the tunnel and into the basement of the school.

"Where's Angel…Lorne where's Angel," Cordelia demanded with a very serious and almost threatening glare in her eyes as she grabbed the lapels of Lorne's shirt and pulled him closer, making sure that he didn't misunderstand any of her words.

"Easy Cordy…if you kill him to soon he won't be able to tell you where Angel is," Oz chimed in with a weak edge to his voice as he leaned up against a pile of debris while Wolfram and Hart medics tended to a rather large gash on the side of his head.

"Adam took him…," Molly interjected with a serious and worried look on her face as she wheeled up to the others, careful to avoid rolling her wheelchair into any pieces of the Mayor that had been blown all over the place by the force of the explosion.

"Okay…see we're getting somewhere, okay Molly…where the hell is Adam," Cordelia asked with a very impatient and anxious smile on her face as she let go of Lorne and walked over to Molly before she leaned over, rested a hand on both armrests, and stared straight into Molly's eyes.

"H…he…he's at the school," Molly stammered out before she swallowed hard and leaned back a bit, afraid that Cordelia was going to bite her head off if she didn't like the answer that she had been given.

"Then that's exactly where I'm going…," Cordelia replied with a very stern and certain look on her face before she stood fully, back up, grabbed her sword and started to walk off down the sidewalk.

"You going to walk the whole way there Cordy…or do you want a ride," Gunn asked with a calm and serious frown on his face as he stepped into view and out of the shadows with a nervous looking Fred behind.

"Whatever will get me there quickly enough to give Angel a piece of my mind…," Cordelia answered with a very determined and angry scowl on her face as she turned around on her heel and walked past Gunn back towards the hospital and the helicopters.

"I'll be right back Willow, I just have to find the bathroom in dis place," Kennedy stated with a bored look on her face as she got up from the table.

"Okay…just don't take to long, we only have half an hour before we leave for LA," Willow replied before yawning widely and smiling at her departing girlfriend.

"I won't be late," Kennedy said back with a warm grin on her face before she disappeared around the corner and shook her head. It took her a few moments to find the bathroom and after answering the call of nature she walked over and turned the faucet on.

"Will wonders never cease…you do actually wash your hands," A voice called out throughout the bathroom, causing Kennedy to freeze in place for a moment, before frantically checking the row of mirrors in front of her for the source of the voice. "And here I thought that you were just another one of those people who never washes their hands after using the bathroom," Lysette added with a pouty smile on her face as she opened up the door of one of the stalls and walked up to Kennedy, making sure to let her jeans slip down far enough over her hips so as to hopefully peak Kennedy's interest.

"Who are you…," Kennedy asked with an unsure look on her face as she tried to appear braver than she actually was while still trying not to look scared.

"Someone who thinks that you're on the wrong side," Lysette replied with a coy smile on her face as she continued her trek up towards Kennedy, and only stopped when she was close enough to feel Kennedy's hot breath on her lips.

"The wrong side of what," Kennedy asked with a fake look of annoyance on her face as a voice in the back of her mind was screaming for her to make a break for it while another voice in her head was starting to check off the physical qualities of the young woman standing ever so close to her, almost close enough to touch.

"The game of course…your team doesn't stand a chance against mine…so why not…," Lysette started to say softly at first before she switched to whispering the rest as she began to lean in closer and closer to Kennedy, whose breath became jittery as her heart began to beat faster.

"Whoa…wait a minute," Kennedy started to say with an alarmed look on her face as she took a step back and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong…was it something I said…," Lysette asked with a hurt pout on her face as she jutted out her bottom lip, slumped her shoulders forward a bit, and leaned back up against the wall right beside the hand dryer.

"N…no, it's…it's just dat I thought that everyone had cleared out of here and…," Kennedy mumbled out with a nervous feeling in the bottom of her stomach that only increased as she watched Lysette slide down the wall until she was seated on the floor with her chin resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"I got left behind…the night before everyone left we have a big party…I got so drunk that…," Lysette replied with a sad look on her face as she lifted her chin up enough to look up at Kennedy and to make sure that she was listening to her every word.

"Oh…sorry, but why haven't you left town yet, there's plenty of abandoned cars and…," Kennedy stammered out with a somewhat flustered smile on her face as she let out the deep breath that she had been holding in for some time and took a step closer to Lysette.

"I never learned how to drive; I always just let my friends take me where I wanted to go…I just…," Lysette started to say with another tear streaking down her cheek as she crossed her arms on top of her knees, reaching into a small pocket in her coat for the needle.

"Hey…it's going to be, everything's going to be okay, my friends and I are about to leave Sunnydale for LA where we'll all be safe, you can come with us, I'm sure that they wouldn't have a problem with one more…," Kennedy said with a concerned look on her face as she knelt down in front of Lysette and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Such a pity then, that you will have to miss that trip," Rhona chimed in with an almost bored frown on her face as she slowly opened the stalls door and stepped out into the bathroom, much to Kennedy's shock as the potential scrambled back up to her feet, followed suit closely by Lysette, who now had the needle hidden in the sleeve of her coat.

"Holy shit…Rhona…but you're…," Kennedy stammered out with a very surprised and nervous look on her face as she cast a quick look back at Lysette, who put on her best scared stupid look and pressed herself back up against the wall, hoping to look as if she were frozen in fear. Just like they had hoped Kennedy quickly positioned herself directly in between Lysette and Rhona, who did her best to act as if she was still human.

"Dead…no shit Sherlock, told you the black chick always gets it first…and this time it's all your fault," Rhona stated with a very clear and intended glare cast directly at Kennedy, who wilted a bit under the intensity of the glare at first before she straightened up and clenched her hands up into fists.

"I'm sorry that you're dead Rhona, but it was not my fault, you volunteered to go the school…you're as much to blame for this as I am…," Kennedy started to snap back with an angry glare of her own before she felt the sharp prick of a needle in the side of her neck, followed quickly by the sight of Rhona slipping her game face on. "What…," Kennedy mumbled out in addition before her entire body became like jelly and she flopped back into Lysette's waiting arms.

"You were right Rhona, she is one gullible bitch," Lysette joked with a sly smile on her face as she politely pushed Kennedy's head to one side. The last thing that the living Kennedy would ever see was a quick glimpse of Lysette slipping into her game face before two sets of fangs sank into her neck.

"Who are you," Connor demanded with an angry scowl on his face after he sliced off the head of an onrushing harbinger.

"Who I am doesn't matter young one, what matters is you…pretending to be something that you're not, you're not entirely human yet you're not entirely a demon…quite the quandary for such an innocent soul," Caleb replied with a smug but yet sincere smile on his face as he slowly walked down the hallway towards Connor and what remained of his soldiers.

"I get by," Connor mumbled back in reply with a carefree smile on his face and a shrug of his shoulders as he picked his sword back up and took a few steps forward towards Caleb.

"But you shouldn't just…get by…you should…," Caleb started to say, acting very calm while seeming to search for the right words before he was interrupted.

"Learn to listen when someone tells you to sod off…," An indignant Spike stated as he climbed up through a hole in the floor before turning and helping Buffy up.

"And take a hint when you try to kill someone repeatedly that they're not going to want to be your…special friend," Buffy added with an angry grin on her face as she positioned the scythe directly in front of her so that there would be no way that Caleb or anyone or anything else could not see and know what it was.

"So…you've made it this far…a pity Glory did not finish you off earlier," Caleb stated with a look of calm disappointment on his face as he took a few steps closer to them.

"Not for lack of trying though…but then again she did kill the Master for us so I guess that she's not entirely bad…," Riley chimed in with a somewhat smug grin on his face as he climbed out of the hole and glanced down into it to make sure that Glory was not right behind him.

"Who are you," Connor demanded with an irritated and slightly nervous frown on his face as he walked up and placed the point of his sword a mere inch from Buffy's throat. Instinctively Spike sprang forward, knocking away the point of Connor's sword from Buffy's throat and hovered the point of his warningly in front of Connor.

"Quite the bedside manner there junior, you learn that from Peaches," Spike snapped with a very confrontational, angry, and defensive scowl on his face as he got a steady footing and expected Connor to attack him.

"Easy Spike, Connor…this is no time to be fighting each other, we need to work together and stop Caleb and the First, not bicker amongst ourselves like this," Buffy stated with a very clear and threatening frown on her face before Spike nervously pulled the point of his sword back and took a step back until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Buffy as the two stared down Caleb.

"Oh please…don't mind me, fight amongst yourselves…it makes all of this much more enjoyable for me," Caleb taunted with an ecstatic smile on his face as he waited patiently for Buffy's response.

"Hate to disappoint you mate, but there's no joy in Sunnyhell tonight…at least not until we've kicked your sorry ass," Spike snickered out with an easily heard tone of sarcasm and daring in his voice as he stepped in front of Buffy and used his body language to dare Caleb to fight him.

"An odd choice of words…," Adam stated with a peculiar and slightly confused look on his face as he walked into view with an unconscious Angel slung over his shoulder.

Giles awoke to chaos around him. Everywhere that he looked a battle to the death was taking place. He almost instantly recognized his surroundings as the basement of the high school. He crawled to his right a few feet to try and find some cover from the onslaught of weapons and claws. He fumbled around inside of his coat in an attempt to find his glasses so that he could get a clearer prospective of what was transpiring around him.

In the center nearest to the hellmouth Riley and the remaining Wolfram and Hart soldiers that had been under Connors command battled through a sea of harbingers. Spike had singled out Caleb and the two were throwing each other into anything that either could find with a sharp edge while Buffy and Glory were busy trading blows near the exit. Angel was scrambling around trying to think of something to use against Adam, who seem to be a little perplexed as to why Angel would not face him head on.

"B…Buffy," Giles called out as loudly as he could before he was forced to cough to keep from inhaling the cloud of dust and dirt that had been kicked up in the cavern because of all of the fighting going on around him.

"Giles stay down," Buffy shot back with a very worried look on her face before she dodged a punch from Glory and tried to work her way closer to her watcher.

"Oh no you don't, you're not going to play hero and rescue the sacrifice this time," Glory exclaimed with a surge in her step as she dashed forward to keep Buffy far away from the Hellmouth. The once small room had been magically expanded tenfold, making it seem more like the final fight was occurring in a coliseum instead of a room in the high school basement.

"So sad…don't you think Rupert," Ethan stated with a mocking tone of concern in his voice as he stepped forward and slipped off his coat, revealing underneath his naked torso that was now covered in runes, with a very large one directly over his heart.

"Hardly…what is truly sad Ethan is your delusion that you have a chance of succeeding," Giles snapped back with a less than reverential tone of voice as he picked himself up off of the floor and shakily got to his feet, wearily wiping some blood out of his right eye.

"Stubborn as always eh Ripper, but your slayer can't save you this time, once the ceremony has begun and I drain the energies from my three acolytes I will become the human host for the First and wipe away the scourge of humanity, ushering forth a new age…where I will be a GOD," Ethan calmly replied back at first before as he spoke his fervor began to grow and he shouted out the last word with great exultation.

"So what am I here for, am I supposed to be your first subject…because if that's your plan than I swear to you that…," Giles started to question with a daring and angry glare on his face as he took a shaky step forward and clenched his hands into fists.

"Wrong again Rupert, you are here because to fully complete the ceremony I need a human sacrifice, and I thought who better than you, now tell me…won't this be fun," Ethan answered with an anxious look on his face that reminded Giles of the look on a child's face just before they went to bed on Christmas Eve.

"What will be fun…Ethan, is when I stop you and make you pay for what you did to that young girl, what you did to Alyssa," Giles stated with a very certain and forceful expression on his face as he stepped up and grabbed a hold of Ethan's throat. In reaction all that Ethan did was laugh, a laugh that began as a low chuckle before he was soon laughing hysterically.

"Okay…he's lost it," Spike shouted above the din with a zealous sneer on his face before Caleb flew forward and bull rushed him through the remains of one of the old stone walls.

"Spike," Buffy shouted with a look of fear and desperation on her face before Glory wrapped both of her hands around her throat and began to squeeze.

"Such a worthless adversary…the girl showed much more promise," Adam added with an unhappy frown on his face before he drove a snapped off beam through Angel's stomach, halting the attacking vampire in his tracks and sending him down in a quickly forming pool of blood.

"You see Rupert, your little band of merry men are of no use against me…and now if you have nothing else up your sleeve I really should get started," Ethan said with a smug grin on his face as he peeled off Giles' hands and then walked calmly over to the hellmouth and stood directly on top of it. For the next few seconds that seemed to spread into an eternity to Giles he watched as Ethan began to utter the phrases to an ancient and powerful spell. Fireballs of energy crackled and exploded all over the room, more than twice nearly consuming Angel and Spike, both of whom now had abandoned fighting and sought instead to simply survive, with Angel being only able to stagger and crawl because of his still bleeding wound. Caleb and Glory had retreated back towards the Hellmouth, stopping just behind Giles in an attempt to make sure that no one interrupted Ethan. Adam turned towards the Hellmouth and seemed to ponder the move there for a few seconds before he turned away and instead sought out Riley and the two remaining Initiative soldiers.

"It's almost time, I can already feel the power," Glory exclaimed with a very thrilled smile on her face as a great wind sprang up within the cavern, tossing very nearly everything around. Buffy was having a terrible time trying to keep her hair out of her face long enough to see where she was going.

"I call upon forces of evil most ancient, forces unheard of in this feeble world, I beg of you…accept this humble vessel as a portal to work your will, I…," Ethan started to shout with a very fervent look in his eyes before a black mist began to swirl up through the plate on the top of the hellmouth. The mist spun around slowly at first before it appeared to take on the guise of a small concentrated tornado as it consumed Ethan.

"I can feel the energy flowing into me," Caleb cried with an ecstatic smile on his face as he held his arms out wide and seemed to grow in size with each passing minute.

"Nothing can stop us now…nothing," Glory added with a very pleased laugh as she closed her eyes and threw back her head, an act that reminded Spike of his time at Woodstock.

"Oh really…," A very stern and seething voice called out through the crackling fireballs and ferocious wind, causing both Caleb and Glory to stop their reveling and peer through the destruction.

"Who dares to…," Glory demanded with a very angry sneer on her face as she took a step forward, only to be blasted back off of her feet and flying through the air until she slammed through the closest wall.

"You think you know power because the First loaned you some of its power…how foolish," The mystery voice added as Buffy thought that it sounded oddly familiar before the identity of the voice was unveiled. She flew through the air effortlessly, eyes blacker than coal, blood running down out of each nostril like a river, and the air around her crackling with energy.

"Willow…," Buffy whispered meagerly as the wind died down just enough for her to get a clear look at her former best friend.

"Red…," Spike asked with a confused and nervous smile on his face as he contemplated stepping into her path but almost instantly decided against it and stayed where he was.

"You will not stop…," Adam started to say in his unfeeling tone of voice as he charged up to Willow before his words caught in his throat as he was seemingly frozen in place, unable to move.

"What are you…an amalgamation of failed things, incomplete…worthless…," Willow stated with a carefree and almost bored edge to her voice before she slammed her fist through Adam's chest, pulling out his power core as if it were the prize in a box of cereal. Adam stared blankly at the power core for a few seconds before his body slumped to the floor. "Such a frail thing, far to frail for any real use…," Willow added with a slight shrug of her shoulders before the power core crumbled into a fine dust, similar to the dust that a vampire left after staking, and Willow let if waft through her fingers until the light breeze blew it away.

"You bitch," Glory started to shout with a very vindictive sneer on her face before the entire room shuddered violently underneath their feet and the Hellmouth itself spun around and opened up, with Ethan having to keep his feet as far apart as possible to keep from falling in.

"What…what…," Caleb stuttered out with a confused look on his face before a black feeler shot out of the Hellmouth and struck him directly in the middle of the back. Seconds later the former priest let out a horrendous scream before he was sucked dry of everything, with finally he shriveled, skin, tendons, muscles, and cartilage melting away like the almost final scene from Indiana Jones And The Final Crusade.

"No…," Glory shouted out as her eyes grew wide and she scrambled to get away, but another jet black feeler shot out of the Hellmouth and slammed into her back. Seconds later, as Glory frantically screamed and begged and pleaded for help Buffy sat in a stunned silence as she watched the former Hell-god go up in a ball of fire. Her clothes were first to go, being vaporized almost instantly before the fire cooked her alive until there was nothing left but a pile of ashes on the floor where she had once stood.

"What...what's happening," Ethan screamed out with a very scared and angry scowl on his face as the cloud of mist began to dissipate and the two jet black feelers retracted into the hellmouth.

"It's over Ethan, Alyssa will be your last victim," Willow stated with a very certain and confidant look on her face before Ethan began to spout off one threat after another at the red headed witch.

"You can't stop me I…," Ethan snapped back with a very bloodthirsty glare in his eyes before a bullet tore through his stomach from close range.

"Won't harm another soul…ever, I'm sorry Ethan, sorry that I ever let you live," Giles stated with a calm and deadly serious tone to his voice before he shot Ethan again with the gun that he had hidden under the leg of his pants, strapped to his calf.

After the second shot Ethan's knees quivered a bit before a gusher of blood gurgled out of his mouth. The runes slowly began to be stripped off of his body and then disappear into thin air. Spike shook his head and darted forward, grabbing the back of Giles' shirt, before he rather rudely hauled the old watcher back away from the Hellmouth. Before Giles could say anything the earth around the hellmouth started to crack open, something that only served to distract Ethan's attention from trying to stay balanced above the hellmouth with two bullets through his gut.

"And now you die," Willow whispered calmly with an easy going look on her face as she cocker her head to one side and crossed her arms while still hovering two feet off of the ground.

"Goodbye Ethan," Giles stated with a relieved look on his face as he shakily stood up and turned his back on his former friend, not bearing witness as one of the jet black feeler slithered up out of the Hellmouth and wrapped itself tightly around Ethan's body, squeezing the life out of him. In fact Giles stayed looking the other way when his former friend let out one last gasp and was dragged into the Hellmouth.

"Well I'm glad that's over…," Buffy said with a deep sigh as her shoulders slumped forward and she dropped down to a knee to try and catch her breath. No sooner had her knee hit the ground when the Hellmouth sealed itself back up again and then dissolved.

"What…," Riley started to ask with a confused look on his face before all went to hell in a hand basket. With the lack of the Hellmouth being the lynchpin in the coupling the very fabric of space and time seemingly began to rip itself apart. Soon the ceiling began to cave in while the room's floor split open like cracks in a windshield, radiating out from the central spot where the Hellmouth had been.

"Everybody run," Angel called out as loudly as he could as he hauled himself up against the far wall and held one hand clamped over his stomach in a desperate attempt to hold back the bleeding.

"Run where Angel, this place is a vault…," Spike shouted back with a nervous and slightly scared look on his face as he hurried to Buffy and helped her back to his feet only moments before the two lovers were knocked back off of their feet by a powerful shudder that ripped through the floor of the room.

"There has to be a way out somewhere, we just have to…," Angel started to reply with a frantic look of losing hope on his face before seemingly the entire ceiling of the room exploded above them.

END OF CHAPTER 32


	33. Epilogue

**REPRECUSSIONS**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Amy, Kelli, and Alyssa.**

**Author's Note: Thank you to all for reading this story, I hope that you liked it. If anyone wants to pick up ****Willow****'s story as she hunts Kennedy, Lysette, and Rhona down just drop me a line and we'll talk. Again thank you to all that have read the story.**

**EPILOGUE**

6 Months Later…

"How is she," Wesley asked softly from his side of the bed as Faith slowly shut the door behind her and pulled of her stocking hat.

"As fine as she could be considering the fact that she's sixth months pregnant with the spawn of a man that tried to end the world," Faith replied softly with a large yawn before she shrugged her coat and scarf to the floor before sitting down at the desk and yanking her shoes and socks off.

"Does she still have the nightmares," Wesley asked with a concerned look on his face as Faith fumbled with her frozen hands to unbuckle the top button on her jeans.

"Unfortunately…," Faith mumbled back in reply as she finally got the top button and slid her stiff jeans off, shuddering a bit before she pulled off her thin shirt and throwing it on the floor beside her jeans.

"Don't you think that you should pick some of that up, even though we have a cleaning service that cleans this place up for us you should still…," Wesley started to say before Faith finished stripping and let her bra and panties fall to the floor at her feet.

"Can this all wait Wes…I'm fucking freezing over here," Faith called back with a shiver as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to rub some warmth back into them, not noticing Wesley staring at a location just above her crossed arms. "Perv…," Faith grumbled with a playful look of scorn on her face as she guessed what had caught Wesley's attention.

"You can't blame me this time Faith, come here," Wesley stated with a warm smirk on his face before he sat up in bed and pulled back the covers to reveal that Faith wasn't the only one devoid of clothing. Faith hid a smile as best she could as she slowly walked over to the bed and climbed in, trying to act as if she was being forced into this rather than reveal the truth, the truth that she loved the feeling of her lover's hot mouth against her icy skin. It didn't take very long before the light went out in there room and Faith wasn't cold anymore.

After the destruction of over seventy five percent of the city of Sunnydale Faith and Wesley had taken Angel up on the offer that he had spoken with Faith about prior to the final battle. Now six months later they were set up as a satellite branch of Angel Investigations, with their office situated in an area of prime real estate and their home consisting of a large trio of loft apartments that Andrew had remarked looked at first like the set of the movie Ghost. Faith and Wesley had taken Andrew and Alyssa with them, hoping to both reform the former villain and to help the now young pregnant potential put as much distance between herself and the memory of Ethan Rayne as she could get. Faith had quickly appointed herself as Alyssa's official guardian, helping the young woman get around town and look for a place to work. Unlike the other potentials Alyssa was only three months away from her eighteenth birthday and after hearing about the baby her parents had cut her off completely. Wesley had become her tutor in the hope of helping her graduate high school with the rest of her class and thus give her enough free time for the baby. Andrew had come along mostly because neither Angel nor Buffy nor Giles had wanted to take him in. Faith had protested at first but her objections had for the most part stopped when Wesley had whispered into her ear that the nerd would make good bait.

Angel remained the head of Wolfram and Hart in Los Angeles with Gunn and Fred as his two most trusted advisors and Cordelia as his second in command. After the final battle, where Gunn had dropped every remaining bomb that Wolfram and Hart had left in Sunnydale to break through the ceiling of the room in which the final battle had taken place in, Connor had been accepted at USC. Connor had found that he was actually quite good at playing basketball and after much mockery had proven himself at tryouts. Angel had been confused at first before Cordelia had mentioned that with Connor playing basketball Angel would be able to watch every single game like any other spectator.

Molly and Kelli had returned with Buffy and Spike to the mansion that Gunn had picked out for them, with Spike asking Angel for one favor before for the most part the two buried the hatchet of animosity between them for what Buffy hoped to be forever. After two months of rabid construction Buffy had awoken one morning with Spike at her side to find a large glass dome standing in their backyard. When she had roused Spike and questioned him about it he had whispered to her, while trailing a line of seductive kisses down the side of her neck, that it was an early Christmas present. At first Buffy hadn't understood, but later that day it became crystal clear to her. Spike had invited Angel and the others over and for the first time in many decades Angel and Spike were able to spend an afternoon, out under the sun, with the women that they loved. They were finally allowed to have a semi normal picnic, thanks in no small part to the glass enclosure composed entirely of necro-tinted windows, fully protecting them from the sun. Connor had arrive late with his first real girlfriend and spent much of the afternoon trying to convince her that he wasn't a freak and that Angel and Spike would not try to kill her.

Giles had set up a new kind of council in what remained of Sunnydale, using the emblem of the phoenix for the new gathering. He had taken the head role himself, mostly since there was none other, save Wesley, that was even close to being up to the job. Willow had agreed to join but only after she had hunted down and dusted Lysette and Rhona and their newest sister Kennedy. The three vampires had become a triumvirate of evil, staying under the radar as best that they could while they cut of swath of destruction across the world. The three were almost inseparable, with their bed in their nest filling nearly half the room, and every one of their minions swearing to serve only them. Soon after the destruction of Sunnydale Willow had gathered some supplies and taken off on a personal crusade to not rest until all three were nothing but dust on the ground. As a result of her massive power usage during the final battle Willow's magic had been stretched to its limits and she had guessed that it would take weeks if not months before it would return. Oz had gone with her, although mostly at Xander's insistence as he, Anya, and the potentials had moved into the few remaining houses in Sunnydale that hadn't been destroyed as a result of the battle. Dawn had hoped to patch things up with Buffy but in no uncertain terms Buffy had told them all to act as if they never knew her, insisting that if they had anything that they wanted to say to her that they should go through Angel. Hoping to ease the tension a bit, and hoping to keep himself from killing Xander, Angel had bought the entire town of Sunnydale and set about rebuilding it. It had been an easy task since no contractor came anywhere near Sunnydale after hearing rumors as to the cause of the destruction. Xander had been put in charge of rebuilding the city and took the task to heart, taking great pride in the fact twenty years later when the city was finally back to normal. Robin had left with Sam and Riley, who had tried for a bit before splitting up and leaving California. Riley had been promoted and took an office far away from the west coast while Robin joined the Initiative and soon found himself helping Sam with her rehabilitation and later much more.

The bonds of love and friendship that once existed between Scoobies was gone, replaced with new bonds with new people that would need time to develop. All in all Giles hoped that one day everyone would join together and past sins would be forgiven, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

END OF EPILOGUE


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